SHEFFIELD’S OWN NASA
Alex Keen of Sent Into Space offers some useful advice for wannabe astronauts “The Civil Aviation Authority regulates unmanned flights in the UK and issues notices to any airmen who will be around when a balloon flight is taking place. So it’s important to apply for clearance from them to launch a balloon so that you’re not going to be interfering with any existing air traffic. It’s completely free, and is a simple form you have to fill out – we’ve got it on our website with instructions on how best to complete it. You send it off and then wait for up to a month for them to get back in touch.
“The most important thing you can do is familiarise yourself with all of the equipment and every stage of the process before you’re in the field. That’s when all the mistakes get made: when people are out there, holding on to a balloon, and aren’t quite sure how this thing should work, and end up not quite doing the right thing. Practise turning on and using the tracking devices that you’ve got and make sure you know exactly what knot you’re going to use to tie the balloon on. Any kind of secure snare or hitching knot will work, but it’s important to know that your knot is definitely not going to come undone. At that point you’re either releasing the balloon, or in the worst scenario, dropping a box full of your priceless equipment from 17km up…”
Find out everything you need to know about sending your own payload into space, with tutorials, tips and videos at sentintospace.com