On the twelfth, a few of our group members, along with two film crew members tried to retrieve our balloon in El Centro. When they got back to school on the thirteenth, they said they drove to three different sites, starting at the last ping that the GPS gave out. They also went to a valley that the package could have gone to, and lastly a lookout area to see if they could spot the balloon from above. On the lookout area, they something white and thought it was the package, but unfortunately it was on private property so either way they wouldn't have retrieved it. Another possibility is it went over the border into Mexico. The balloon has not been found yet, so the only way we are able to retrieve it is that someone finds it and sends it back, or that something knocks the package over so the GPS can get a connection. In the end we lost an estimate of a thirty dollar GoPro, thirty dollar parachute, sixty dollar Data Collection System, twenty dollar SD Cards, a GPS and Data for our project, as well as the footage the camera caught.
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This semester didn't go the way I had imagined it to. I feel like some projects were going on too long, and the project I was excited to work on, I wasn't included. I felt our teachers weren't reaching out to each student and help them, but rather waited for others to come to them, which can be a good thing to teach us independance but we also need that support that we don't ask for. I felt I wasn't connected to my teachers this year as I have been in the past which made it harder for me to feel confident enough to share my thoughts with them.
Some personal growth I have done this semester was through independence. We never had the opportunity to rely on our teachers through anything this year, which can be both good and bad. Last year, our math teacher didn't teach us what we needed to know, but rather sent us on a computer to write code, which really doesn't have anything to do with math. This year so far I have learned so much in this one subject, and I love it. Starting this semester off I didn't have any expectations or goals, which I wish I had made. I usually have goals, but this year I wanted to see what was going to happen, rather then set up for a certain purpose. I felt there was no drive in my work as there usually is, so now I know to have goals to work towards and try to achieve. My first goal I have for next semester is to get more involved in my projects. This semester some projects I was working hard and sharing the work while other times I was pushed to the side when wanting to help. This brings me to my next goal, which is to speak up for what I need and want. This past project I didn't get to work on as much as I would have liked, so I'm going to bring the lesson I learned from here onto the next projects and speak up and take action for what I want. I know if I pushed more to work or took over in some parts I would have done alot more to help out the group. I know I could've done more with the project, I even knew it at the time. I did ask my group multiple times if I could work on something or if they needed help but they seemed to never need it, or they would give me and another partner "fill-in" work. I did do things in my project, but I know I couldv'e done a lot more to contribute. I think it would've been better if we made a list of exactly what needs to be done so when one of us is waiting, we just check the list and get started, which would have helped us launch a lot sooner then our final. If I could design my own project, it would be similar to my project last year. The students get in small groups and get to choose what they want to work on. Whether the main purpose is for life lessons, science or how to build a structure, the end result will be a documentary of what they learned and the journey they took to get there. This way everyone is passionate about the project they chose and will want to work everyday. The documentary should be easy because if they enjoyed the project, they should want to make a great story for everyone to see the passion through the film. I feel like my teachers could push forward to get to know all their students, and get to joke around with them. I felt I didn't have any connections with either of them, so it was difficult for me to feel as comfortable around them as I have been with all my other teachers before. I felt it would have been nice for them to check in with every student and talk to them if they are satisfied with their grade, and if they're not, then figure out a way together on how to fix the problem individually. Our final plan was to launch on the December eighth. The prediction says the balloon should fly south, then east. Then by the time it hits El Centro, it should be high enough to pop. My group and I are nervous it may end up landing in Mexico, so we chose Oceanside to launch from to give us room from Mexico.
We arrived around noon, and immediatly got started. When blowing the balloon we realised we didn't have enough helium to lift the package. Andrew then went back to the car with a few students and went to get more helium. About two hours passed until arrived back with a full tank of helium. Our official launch time ended up being over two hours after the launch time we originally wanted. We filled the balloon with more helium, so the weight of the package was now over powered by the balloon. It didn't take off as fast as we would have liked, because it was easy for us to spot as we were driving back to Point Loma. We were planning to retrieve the balloon the next day, the nineth. That night our group was messaging eachother and found out that it had landed close to the border. We realised at school we stopped getting readings from the gps, so we needed more time to plan the retrieval and decided to retrieve it the following monday. There is only one car we can take, so not everyone in our group could go. Three people from our group and two people in the film crew are currently trying to find the package in El Centro area. When we send our Weather balloon up, my group also wants to send pancakes with it, as well as bring it back down in one piece. We want to see if there will be any physical change to the pancakes when it comes back. We believe that placing the pancakes on acrylic glass, levitated on the sides of the package will keep it stable enough, as long as they are stuck to the glass with glue. Above: Our design before changing our subject to send up Our package design is made from a large styrofoam box. Inside, we put heat pads (handwarmers), the gps, batteries, a couple GoPros and more. On the outside are where the pancakes will be suspended on the glass. We are keeping it warm and safe inside using the heat pads and layering it with styrofoam between the electronics. For our suspension system we are using a fish swivel attached to paracords that are attached to the box. This way when the balloon spins the bottom box will be more stable for the footage. Since it is a box, the sides may catch on the wind and spin it around since it is a flat surface, so we just hope to reduce the amount of spinning. The rope is also connected to the parachute, so when our weather ballon bursts the package will stay safe.
Before we could launch we have to run tests on our package to make sure things stay safe and in place. We couldn't use the shake machine, so Phillip shook the package by hand very hard and everything ended up fine. Another thing we had to do before launching, is setting a date for the launch to make sure the weather won't carry the package too far or in an area we can't retrieve it. The weeks we wanted to launch kept on saying it would send the balloon to the ocean or to Mexico, so we continuesly had to change the date. Finally we found a date that would have to work, since the semester and project was almost over. The main reason we wanted to send up pancakes, is for us to make Space Pancakes. Other then that, we also want to know if they might get destroyed, stay in one piece, or anything else that could happen. Our hypothesis is it will make it to space but the radiation and weather will destroy it on the way down. Our film is of a baby bird (played by Miles Stanton) who doesn't know how to fly. His goal is to one day fly as high as a plane, so he has an idea on climbing the highest mountain he can find, and will jump off to see if he can fly like a plane. In the air he loses all control and spins out and lands with a thump. His first flight didn't go so well, but he still has hope in himself.
We chose this plot because we wanted something light-hearted and I had immediately thought of a bird learning how to fly, I didn't want to over think the film so that's why we decided to go with the first idea. This film is a great representative to show that when things don't go exactly how you first planned, things are still okay. There is always new things to learn, and ways to improve. Our Launch was a success. It more or less went straight up, and the recovery wasn't bad either. Although our parachute didn't come out right away, it was still in time to not break on the floor. My partners and I felt that we had to research what specifically to do so we didn't screw anything up, because I felt as if the teachers just said "go" to us and I know my group did not feel comfortable with such little direction. If we had to re-do it, I would say to get everything done right away so we don't have to stress about it the whole time. Also taking pictures as we go and immediately putting them up on the blog because we lost most of our pictures and now we don't have all the pictures up required because we had already launched. I am proud of my contribution to the rocket, but I also feel as though there is always something we all could have done more. Still in need of: Recovery Wadding, Parachute, Camera Our class ran out of cameras, so we didn't get to use one on our rocket.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2016
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