Sean Reichle

I chose this accelerometer specifically for it’s ability to accurately measure up to 250g’s of force. It’s one of the key components to these experiments since I’m really curious how many g’s and what kind of speed my rocket booster will produce in the upper stratosphere without any atmosphere. The data logger will save these measurements so I can do the math to calculate just how much booster I’ll need to achieve the necessary speed for a low earth orbit.

I’m still researching what transmitter I can use that fits my package limitations and requirements which are fairly simple, broadcast my audio message. I’d like to be able to transmit data but I still haven’t found a solution for this distance. Any ideas?

This is one of the coolest components I got for this project. It’s driven by an arm processor and accepts a simple serial data stream and writes it to the Micro SD card. Since it saves all the data In plain text files I’ve been writing the software for the computer that reads all the sensors to output all the collected data In an XML style markup language so I can upload the data file to my server and parse each sensors data to store in the database from each flight. I can then express the data in charts later on my web server and log as many missions as I need for easy comparison. It wasn’t very expensive and it’s fully programmable. Just compile your arm program and save it to the sd card you load on the device and the boot loader initiates that program on boot. With support for up to 2gb micro sd cards it’s a very capable and versatile component for any scientific data collection project. You’ll find it at sparkfun.com

Google’s Lunar X-Prize Competition

The requirements are rather simple but hardly easy.  Land a privately funded rover/vehicle on the Earth’s moon, broadcast a message called a “Moon Cast”, and travel sum 500 meters on the moons surface.  Value, about twenty million dollars ($20,000,000).  Bonus prizes are awarded for completing additional challenges once the initial challenge is met.  The “Heritage Bonus Prize” will be awarded for sending or returning imagery/video of an anthropogenic historical artifact.  A “Water Detection Bonus Prize,” a “Range Bonus Prize” for traveling sum five kilometer’s on the moons surface.  A “Survival Bonus Prize” for performing the above requirements on two separate lunar days as well as a “Diversity Bonus Prize” for having a diverse team in the competition.  What’s all that worth? Another five million($5,000,000) or so.

I began following the progress of the competition and teams in April of last year.  What excited me about the competition wasn’t just the huge purse prizes but the actual challenge inherent with the competition.  You see, I’ve always been extremely exited about the advancement of the human race and at this point in our existence, after having grown and advanced so rapidly over the past few decades I am truly inspired.

The rate human’s have advanced only just recently really speaks to the power of individuals and groups who set their mind on what might seem an impossible goal.  Once accomplished though, it seems the impossible is repeated over, and over again as if it had always been obviously obtainable.  It’s been over four decades since we first stepped on the moon and it led to some of the most fantastic changes to the human race that might have ever happened in human history.   Nearly every facet of our lives has become a technological advancement entanglement. That for me, is clearly related to the entrance into space, or more aptly, reaching further then earth.  I could bore you with reminders of how dependent we are on space and satellites for everything from Geo positioning, cellular communications, banking, military capability with it’s side effect political scrutiny all the way to digital television and internet.  I could, but I won’t.  For if you don’t see and understand how much has changed over the last forty years you will not understand where I’m about to take you…

Although this story started in San Francisco last year, as many awesome stories do.  It’s come to Las Vegas, the city of sin, the devil’s playground and desert oasis that has become my proving grounds.  This challenge won’t come without quite a lot of additional education on  my part.  A scientist at heart, an engineer to the core, I’m a programmer by trade and certainly a kid with big ideas, but this isn’t something I’ve ever taken a class on.

I don’t think you understand the Gravity of the situation.
It is the tallest hurdle, by far the greatest challenge in this endeavor.  Gravity, although one of the weakest forces in science is the first obstacle. Luckily though, I have an Idea on a cost effective(cheep) method for which I can seriously become a contender in this challenge.  Like all good ideas though, it is useless if I don’t take it to the next level and so idea goes to theory thus time for testing.

Step 1:

I need to collect some data.  I’ve only got until the end of 2010 to determine if it is even possible for me, just me to construct, deploy and land a craft on the moon and come up with the $50,000 entrance fee to the competition.   My first milestone will to put a craft in low earth orbit.  The ability to accomplish this will determine if I stand any chance in escaping gravity given my limited resources and budget.

A small rocket by the name of _unnamed_ is under construction and weeks away from it’s first test flight.  This rocket is not a payload carrier, it’s purpose it to create baseline data I need to do some calculations testing that theory of mine.  I’ve built a small yet powerful microcomputer that will travel on board the rocket collecting and storing data from the sensors onto a micro SD card.  As of last night, I’m proud to say the computer and program successfully read and log from the GPS, Accelerometers, temperature /environment sensor array, video camera/recorder and a few other secret weapon components that set this team apart from the pack.  The program I’ve written will read the sensors on the programmed intervals and store the data to the SD card for analysis.

Launch 1, Alpha is my baseline data model so it’s important the components are packaged nicely as they must survive additional launches without failure or changes in overall launch weight with replacement parts.   I’ve designed the on-board computer to also handle the launch countdown, ignition and return of the rocket via GPS guided glide with an RC receiver as backup in case of a failure with the on-board computer.  Although described as a rocket this vehicle has short delta wings, aileron and a rudder control surfaces which can be controlled by the on-board computer and RC Receiver to handle the flight characteristics of return.

I don’t expect Alpha launch to climb to more then two or three thousand feet but I expect It’ll get to over 150,000 feet in the beta launch which is why the electronics to support flight back to the launch site are so important.  From that altitude the rocket could easily drift hundreds of miles on a slow chute decent.   Once above the launch co-ordinates the vehicle will circle until it descends to 200ft above launch level, then deploy a recovery chute.  That’s the plan anyway.  I’m implementing RC deployment of the chute just in case. 

-Sean Reichle