To make sure all the instruments would work properly, many tests had to be performed. A temperature test was conducted to see how the heater worked under the cold conditions and see if it could provide enough energy to keep the payload heated. The batteries seemed to fall a bit below the standard for the recommended temperature (Figure 1). This is due to the fact that we were testing with liquid nitrogen which has a temperature of -196 degrees Celsius. At 30 km the temperature will only be -50 degrees Celsius. If the experiment were done again, a better way to simulate the actual temperature up at 30 km would have been to test with dry ice because it has a temperature of -80 degrees Celsius. The heater had to work properly and the electricity had to run through the series and parallel set of batteries to make sure the resistors were giving off heat (Figure 7). To test our hypothesis on what the muon flux should be with a change in altitude, we made a “test box” with the geiger counter. The box was brought from Greeley, CO (4,675ft) to Spearhead Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park (12,575ft). The instruments recorded data for the entire five hour hike. The data seemed to agree with what we had hypothesized. (Figure 4).
The pressure sensor was tested by visiting different floors using a elevator (Figure 10). This test simulates the altitude change when the payload is actually launched. The altitude changes as the payload is moved from floor to floor (Figure 2). After this test had occurred the data needed to be extracted from the SD card and recorded on the computer. The SD card was removed from the micro SD shield and inserted into the computer to record the results (Figure 9). The whip test was conducted to simulate turbulence and see how the payload handles turbulence. The instruments were held in place and did not take too much damage.The drop test was conducted to simulate the impact from the landing after the flight concluded. The payload survived the drop from the top of Ross Hall with little damage to the parts. The payload will have a parachute to help slow its descent and reduce the force of impact.
The pressure sensor was tested by visiting different floors using a elevator (Figure 10). This test simulates the altitude change when the payload is actually launched. The altitude changes as the payload is moved from floor to floor (Figure 2). After this test had occurred the data needed to be extracted from the SD card and recorded on the computer. The SD card was removed from the micro SD shield and inserted into the computer to record the results (Figure 9). The whip test was conducted to simulate turbulence and see how the payload handles turbulence. The instruments were held in place and did not take too much damage.The drop test was conducted to simulate the impact from the landing after the flight concluded. The payload survived the drop from the top of Ross Hall with little damage to the parts. The payload will have a parachute to help slow its descent and reduce the force of impact.