The start of the stratospheric balloon Passepartout V in Graz was a great achievement for the ASF. The balloon, whose flight was organized by the ASF in cooperation with the ÖVSV, sent his first beacon soon after the start (09.42h loc) at the Observatory Lustbühel in Graz-Waltendorf to the APRS.
June 19th 2010: The balloon- launch in Graz of Passepartout V was successful.
19. June 2010
During an activity in Graz, which took place on June 19th 2010, the passepartout- crew started the balloon, called Passepartout and let him fly to the upper spheres of our atmosphere, in memory of our friend and team- member Hannes “Capitano” Meyer. The crew and even the whole audience were fascinated by the altitude, the balloon reached. A new record of 115 567 feet was established!
Report from Viktor, OE1VKW & Mike, OE3MZC; Gerald, OE3DSB (Austrian Attempt- Send- Bound)
Before the bursting of the casing and the quick falling of Passepartout took place, the balloon reached an altitude of 115 567 feet (11.38h loc).
The last APRS beacon was received at an altitude of 24 258 feet (12.05h loc). The reason for the radio silence, which followed: At this time Passepartout was over the nature park Almenland, 114 829 feet north of Graz.
At 16h the balloon was found and taken away from the very mountainous Teichalm, 2624 feet away from the nearest street. But fortunately it landed exactly on a forest road. GSM didn’t work, but because of our measurements we were successful in finding it.
The rescue crew was relieved: At the first check all the payloads were unharmed and so the commitment for a new balloon- launch at the ham-radio in Friedrichshafen wasn’t handicapped.
Because of some fading the carrier didn’t work at a low altitude. The occupancy wasn’t perfect but the stations were OK. OE0S and the Geiger- counter didn’t work, the APRS- beacon worked with the call OE1MTS, like we’ve already mentioned.
We thank Viktor, OE1VKW and his crew for their great work!
Photos of Passepartout V camera
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PolAres Schedule Update
15. June 2012: Deadline Announcement of Opportunity MARS2013 25.-27. Oct. 2012: 3rd Conference on Terrestial Mars Analogues 01 - 28. February 2013: Morocco Mars Simulation
Between 01 - 28. February 2013, the Austrian Space Forum will conduct an integrated Mars analog field simulation in the northern Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco. Directed by a Mission Support Center in Austria, a small field crew will conduct experiments preparing for future human Mars missions mainly in the fields of engineering, planetary surface operations, astrobiology, geophysics/geology, life sciences and other.
This field mission is supported by the Ibn-Battuta-Center at the University of Marrakesh, Morocco. The Austrian Space Forum now solicitates proposals to be reviewed by a selection panel. The deadline for submissions is 15. June 2012, the announcement of the successful experiments will be released on 15. July 2012.
Detail
The analysis of Mars analogue environments on Earth is of paramount importance for the interpretation of the data from past, present and future orbital and landed missions, as well as mission planning (both robotic and human). Sedimentary environments in particular attract strong interest because they can retain the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental history of the planet and under the right conditions may harbour fossil or present life signatures.
Date: 25. - 27. October 2012
Location: Conference Centre of the Hotel Meridien N'Fis at Marrakech, Morocco Organization: European Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, International Association of Sedimentologits, Ibn Battuta Centre, IRSPS, Universite Cadi Ayyad.
Between 01 - 28. February 2013, the Austrian Space Forum will conduct an integrated Mars analog field simulation in the northern Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco. Directed by a Mission Support Center in Austria, a small field crew will conduct experiments preparing for future human Mars missions mainly in the fields of engineering, planetary surface operations, astrobiology, geophysics/geology, life sciences and other.
