Mission Nearspace Blog Loopy Computy

How big should the balloon be?

2/10/2014

One of the first decisions to make is what size balloon we need to buy. A smaller balloon will not be able to lift as much payload weight, but will cost less to buy and require less helium. A larger balloon will lift more weight, but will cost more to buy and require more helium.

300g size balloon
can lift a payload of 150g
cost of balloon: £23
helium gas needed 0.84 cubic metres.
cost for 1.81 cubic metre canister of helium £100

500g size balloon
can lift a payload of 250g
cost of balloon: £47
helium gas needed 1.29 cubic metres
cost for 1.81 cubic metre canister of helium £100

The budget for the whole mission is £550.

The payload could contain a passenger (and platform) weighing 20g, a video camera weighing 80g, a tracker weighing 50g, a data logger weighing 36g and a payload box weighing 50g.

Should we use the 300g size balloon or the 500g size balloon? What do you think and why?

24 Comments

Eniola

2/11/2014 03:34:21 am

I think we should use a 500g balloon because i added how much the whole thing would weigh over 150g

2/12/2014 10:24:04 pm

I think you should use the 500g balloon because the more helium in the balloon the higher it will go.

2/11/2014 07:36:25 am

I think we should get the 500g balloon because the 300g might not go as far as we hoped.

2/11/2014 07:37:09 am

A smaller balloon will be better because it won't go up so quickly and we will see it making process through the atmesphere.

2/11/2014 07:37:42 am

I think the smaller balloon because we can track its progress as it slowly goes up and it also costs less.

2/16/2014 02:13:40 am

I agree with you

2/11/2014 07:38:23 am

you should use 500g balloon it will be best.
the bigger the balloon the faster it will go

good luck,

2/11/2014 07:39:03 am

we should make the ballon 500 grames because it might go a little higher than 300 grams

2/11/2014 07:39:46 am

I think the 500g balloon because the more it costs the better it will carry , but the 300g balloon will carry less and it will take more time to go up as near as possible to space.

2/11/2014 07:41:29 am

I think you should decide on what you would like to send up first because you may go spending money you didn't need to spend

2/11/2014 07:42:08 am

go for the one that will last the longest in the atmosphere and will keep the lego man intacked and not halfway over the country

F.P

2/12/2014 10:04:39 pm

i think you should used 500g ballon because you can fit more helium and it would travel further

2/16/2014 02:14:35 am

You are right

2/12/2014 10:20:56 pm

I think we should have a 500g balloon because that means we can put a heavier loud on it and I hope it goes well ,so good luck !!!!!!

FT link

2/14/2014 06:54:47 pm

I think we should use 500g balloons because the payload will be heavier than what the 300g balloon can carry.

2/15/2014 03:30:42 pm

I think we should use a 500g balloons because it can carry more weight

2/18/2014 08:52:12 pm

I think the 300g balloon would work fine because we are thinking of sending up a Lego figure and they only weigh 4g.

Tom

2/23/2014 12:44:06 am

500g because the 300g would struggle to get of the ground.

Mark Ireland - (STRATODEAN) link

3/1/2014 01:01:45 am

Hi Guys

Great project going on here. Have a think about how high you want the balloon to go. You have written some good comments, to help you out have a look at this calculator written by Cambridge University http://habhub.org/calc/.

You can put in your payload weight and your balloon size and it will tell you how high and how quickly the balloon will rise.

Finally, you don't want your payload rising slower than 4 meters per second (4 m/s) because the balloon might not reach bursting altitude and 'float' around for a long time!

Good luck!

Mark Ireland

3/7/2014 05:50:19 pm

I think we should have 500g balloon because it can hold more things than the 300g balloon.

ns@brim

3/9/2014 01:54:58 am

If you use the 300g balloon it will travel slower and the data and video results maybe be more precise than if you use the 500g balloon because it will go quicker. The results may not be as accurate. But...if you use the 500g balloon it may travel higher than the 300g balloon before it bursts.

3/9/2014 11:50:48 pm

The box needs to be made of something that floats incase it lands in water.However if the material is too heavy it willnot carry as much.

RS@Brim

3/11/2014 06:02:00 am

I think we should use the 500g balloon because it will probably travel further than the 300g balloon. However the 300g balloon will cost a lot less.

3/30/2014 02:52:00 am

Definitely the 500g balloon to ensure it goes as far as need it too

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How big should the balloon be?

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