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High-altitude balloon experiments are becoming very popular among universities and research institutes as they can be used for testing instruments eventually intended for space, and for simple astronomical observations of Solar System…
A novel concept called Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion proposes to fly satellites at altitudes in the range 180-250 km, since this would have some advantages for the performance of radio communication and Earth observation equipment. The…
Launching orbital and suborbital rockets from a high altitude is beneficial because of e.g. nozzle optimisation and reduced drag. Aeroplanes and gas balloons have been used for the purpose. Here we present a concept where a balloon is…
We present an open-source code for the simulation of electron and ion transport for user-defined gas mixtures with static uniform electric and magnetic fields. The program provides microscopic interaction simulation and is interfaced with…
Kwant is a Python package for numerical quantum transport calculations. It aims to be an user-friendly, universal, and high-performance toolbox for the simulation of physical systems of any dimensionality and geometry that can be described…
We present a publicly-available toolkit of flight-proven hardware and software to retrieve 5 TB of data or small physical samples from a stratospheric balloon platform. Before launch, a capsule is attached to the balloon, and rises with it.…
We develop an effective computer model to simulate sensing environments that consist of natural trees. The simulated environments are random and contain full geometry of the tree foliage. While this simulated model can be used as a general…
High altitude scientific balloons offer unique opportunities to carry scientific payloads to stratospheric altitudes at a cost several orders of magnitude lower than corresponding satellite missions. Balloon-borne payloads are easy to…
In order to model astrophysical environments characterized by radial stratification, such as supernova remnants or expanding superbubbles; correctly understanding the transport of non-thermal particles in astrophysical plasmas is essential.…
Balloon experiments are an economically feasible method of conducting observations in astronomy that are not possible from the ground. The astronomical payload may include a telescope, a detector, and a pointing/stabilization system.…
We present an open source toolkit of flight-proven electronic devices which can be used to track, terminate and recover high altitude balloon flights and payloads. Comprising a beacon, pyrotechnic and non-pyrotechnic cut-down devices plus…
Validation is often defined as the process of determining the degree to which a model is an accurate representation of the real world from the perspective of its intended uses. Validation is crucial as industries and governments depend…
In trajectory planning and control design for unmanned air vehicles, highly simplified models are typically used to represent the vehicle dynamics and the operating environment. The goal of this work is to perform real-time, but realistic…
We present a Fortran 95 code for simulating the evolution of astrophysical systems using particles to represent the underlying fluid flow. The code is designed to be versatile, flexible and extensible, with modular options that can be…
Heliotropes are passive solar hot air balloons that are capable of achieving nearly level flight within the lower stratosphere for several hours. These inexpensive flight platforms enable stratospheric sensing with high-cadence enabled by…
The Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) is a coded aperture gamma-ray instrument with a large field of view that primarily operates in survey mode when it is not triggering on transient events. The survey data consists of eighty-channel…
Recently, a practical and publicly accessible satellite standard called the SmallSat has amplified public involvement in orbital research. This allows for flexible and efficient deployments of impactful low-earth-orbit experiments that…
We present the last version of the PyrAmid Simulator Software for Adaptive opTics Arcetri (PASSATA), an IDL and CUDA based object oriented software developed in the Adaptive Optics group of the Arcetri observatory for Monte-Carlo end-to-end…
Sloshing Platform for In-Orbit Controller Experimentation is an ambitious, student run mission to design and fly a cubesat to study fluid sloshing in spacecraft. The project will examine zero-g propellant sloshing from an experimental…
We present the results of the first high-altitude balloon flight test of a concept for an advanced Compton telescope making use of modern scintillator materials with silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) readouts. There is a need in the fields of…