Poster Presentation

Useful Recovery Equipment for Stratospheric Ballooning Teams

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Abstract

For most stratospheric ballooninsts, with the possible exception of those who fly (non-recovered) radiosondes, the "chase" and "recovery" are among the most exciting parts of a launch day. One can attempt to target a “nice” landing area – preferably one that is easily accessible and unobstructed; however, it is rare that any potential landing zone is entirely devoid of obstacles and challenging terrain. This is especially true in the Midwest, where lakes, wetlands, and/or thick crops can impede recovery efforts.
Recovery challenges vary not only with geography - ranging from the wetlands of the Midwest to the mountains of Colorado - but also with the season. In the spring there is limited foliage, and hence good visibility, but mud can be impassable at times. In the summer bushy trees and tall crops can severely limit visibility and ground mobility. In the fall, before fields are harvested, our team has been known to say, “30 feet in deep corn is like infinity!” and “Waist-high soybeans can swallow a payload stack and leave no trace!” One may need to dodge harvesting equipment, as well as deer hunters, in the fall as well. In the winter, one must take particular care on icy roads and frozen lakes.
“Take as much stuff as you can, to be prepared for as many types of landing terrain as possible.” - that is our team’s motto when packing for recovery. At this exhibit, we will display some lightweight flight hardware that we add to our payload stacks to aid in recovery (in addition to bulkier trackers like Iridium modems and StratoStar command modules), as well as ground recovery equipment.
In some recoveries, locating the payloads after landing is only half the battle. We have had payloads stuck in tall trees, land in lakes, and be even marooned on islands (so they will never drift to the main shore). Because of this, we travel with boots, waders, ropes, several types of saws, line-cutters, ladders, telescoping poles, an arborist slingshot, handheld GPS units, Ham radios, and walkie-talkies (in case the landing site has no cell phone service – a common occurrence in other parts of the country, though rare where we fly). We also pack an inflatable 3-person boat, with paddles and life jackets, in case of a water landing on a lake without boats to commandeer.
We look forward to showing our equipment and comparing notes with other ballooning teams regarding what recovery hardware and techniques they find most useful when ballooning hardware lands in difficult terrain.

Keywords: stratospheric ballooning, recovery hardware

How to Cite:

Thompson-Jewell, E., Cook, J. & Flaten, J., (2022) “Useful Recovery Equipment for Stratospheric Ballooning Teams”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2022(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ahac.15640