Oral Presentation Only

Virtual Space Camp: Explore Near Space from the Comfort of Your Home!

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Abstract

This presentation will discuss the development of a virtual version of a popular BalloonSat space camp for rising 10th-12th grade students that was hosted during the summer of 2020. Typically this week-long camp is hosted on campus, but this past summer it was converted to a virtual format. Participants in this virtual camp were mailed the required materials to build a small BalloonSat payload and followed along through daily online lessons to complete their satellite at home over a four day period. Over the course of these four days, participants learned the basics of programming the Arduino-based flight computer, building a BalloonSat structure, conducting ground testing, and processing the flight data. In addition, the campers were able to interact with Aerospace Engineering faculty and students through Q&A panels, lab tours, and space-themed games. At the end of the week, the participants mailed their completed BalloonSats back to campus to be launched on a high altitude balloon several weeks later. All 30 camper payloads, along with three additional payloads (which included the flight termination unit, tracking equipment, and several cameras), were flown on a single 3 kg balloon to an altitude of around 85,000 feet. The campers’ launch day experience included a livestream video of the balloon filling and launch process as well as live tracking of the balloon throughout the majority of its flight. After retrieval of the payloads, camp staff collected the data, images, and video and shared all files from the launch with campers via Google Drive. 

This presentation will address the challenges of converting this camp to a virtual format, which included developing a payload design that did not require soldering or other specialized techniques to construct, reducing the size and weight of the payload design so all 30 campers’ BalloonSats could be launched on a single balloon, and creating lessons that were sufficiently clear for campers to follow without in-person supervision. Camper and parent feedback indicate that the virtual camp was a fun and fruitful learning experience for the students, and students felt a great sense of pride in the BalloonSat that they were able to create at home without specialized equipment or facilities. Although it is our hope that we will again be running the in-person version of this camp next summer, the development of this BalloonSat design and the online lesson content has opened up future outreach options for us that may include additional virtual camps and/or workshops to train K-12 teachers to conduct similar activities in their classrooms.

 

Keywords: camp, virtual, outreach, education, K-12

How to Cite:

Schmidt, J., Davis, J., Anklesaria, Y. & Pernicka, H., (2022) “Virtual Space Camp: Explore Near Space from the Comfort of Your Home!”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2020(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ahac.11634