NASA’s new competition, the Formulate, Lift, Observe, And Testing; Data Recovery And Guided On-board Node (FLOATing DRAGON) Balloon Challenge, is looking for teams of undergraduate and graduate students to develop a concept and preliminary prototype for a system capable of delivering a data vault to the ground in a guided, safe manner without subjecting the data vault to a harsh environment.
Sponsored by NASA’s Balloon Program Office (BPO) at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, the FLOATing DRAGON Challenge was developed to provide increased opportunities for academic research institutions to contribute to NASA’s Science Mission Directorate’s mission.
“Scientific balloons clear the way for groundbreaking science. The data they collect contribute to our understanding of Earth, the solar system, and the universe,” said Sarah Roth, chief technologist of the BPO.
Balloon missions, such as SuperBIT and TAURUS, collect prohibitively large amounts of telemetry data. In order to access the data, data recovery systems need to be developed which can drop the data vaults for terrestrial recovery.
However, dropping objects from a balloon at a high altitude is a hazardous operation, posing risks to aviation as well as people and structures on the ground. The ability to accurately target a specific point on the surface and navigate to that point is an important factor in minimizing the risk to the public, which is an essential part of the NASA safety process.
Interested teams of students and their faculty advisors are invited to develop a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) submission package by the deadline of Oct. 20, 2022. After receiving feedback from the judges on the PDR, teams will have another opportunity to submit their final proposal via a Conceptual Design Review (CDR) Package. Based on a review of the CDR submissions, approximately four teams will be chosen to build and test their data recovery prototypes.
Each finalist team will receive a small stipend to offset costs associated with the development and construction of their concept. Unique to this challenge, teams will be paired with NASA engineers at Wallops, who will provide technical guidance for several months to help refine the team’s design and get it flight ready. Upon successfully passing a rigorous mission review process, teams will conduct a test drop of their system in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico, in August 2023.
The winner may have the opportunity to integrate their system in a future NASA mission.
Teams may submit their non-binding Notice of Intent (NOI) by Sept. 15, 2022.
The FLOATing DRAGON Balloon Challenge is sponsored by NASA’s Balloon Program Office at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and managed by the National Institute of Aerospace.
For more information about the Challenge, including full design constraints, requirements, and guidelines, visit: https://floatingdragon.nianet.org