About What We Do:
autonomous trans-atlantic balloon project

In 2005 we as UT students were curious to see if we could build something with a real impact, something interesting, like a mars rover, but with our pocket change. We wanted to to teach our gadget to survive as long as possible, to fight against the harsh, real world, and to phone home with all the gory details. We finally found stories of people doing something like we were thinking - sailing their electronic creations into the sky, dangling below balloons the size of refrigerators. Since our formation, nearly 20 of those beeping boxes have been whisked skyward from our fingers (usually crossed), and most of them have worked all the way to the edge of space, and back.

Over the radio, it constantly tells us where it is, and how high it's gotten, so we can chase madly after it in a cross-country fox hunt to catch up with the electronic balloon passenger after it parachutes softly back to earth. Things can go wrong, but we try to give the little computer a "Plan B" to try when things get tough, so it can at least have a fair shot for survival. We've always designed these to be fun and interesting, which has led to some truly beautiful photographs and videos, and lots of things that no one - or few others - have done before. Many feats we've cheered at passing are technical and possibly obscure, but we have realized that as we dabbled in various ideas and challenges, such as trying to stay up in the air for as long as possible, that we could put them all together for something truly astounding.

There are more than a dozen groups around the US doing balloons like us, in a frontier era of amateur balloons, doing homegrown experiments, testing ideas, competing together, in friendly races to be the first at everything - how high, how far, how heavy, how long, etc. In December 2005, we decided that we might just be able (and crazy enough) to figure out how to get a balloon from Knoxville to cross the entire Atlantic Ocean. It's been a lot of work, and it was tough sticking to it, as nearly every idea, every trick we though of, and sent up into the night sky, failed completely. Somehow though, every failure shed a little more light on the right path to take.

Learning from our mistakes, we know the quirks of the Jet Stream, the sucker punches that come at 70 degrees below zero, the unexpected strength of air pressure, and the magic of shortwave radio. We're now at a point where our electronic explorer, the little flight computer, has all the skills to keep a balloon out of trouble for up to a week, and we've found a balloon designer that has brought to us a proven home made design, trustworthy of flying for several days at a time. The next flight we fly will be the first one that is designed to be fully capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean, and landing on the other side. We have every intention of success, but should it fall into the ocean, we will rest briefly, build it better next time, and fly again until we make it.

SNOX Team Bios

Engineering & Design
Dan Bowen
Flight Computer Programming, Systems Engineering, Overall Design, Construction

Mike Coffey
Flight Transmitter Software, DTRC Software, Web Tracking Engine, Server Design

Carl Lyster
Electrical Engineering, Circuit Design, RF Engineering, Construction

Greg Williams
Launch Organization, Safety coordination, FAA Coordination

Ben Bales
Onboard Receiver Programming, Testing, Construction

Tom Ogle
Construction, Tracking

David Hoffman
Tracking, Recovery

David Icove
Advisor, Counsel

Ed Richardson
Flight Computer Programming, Photography

Website
Chad Crabtree
Web Design, Illustration

Eric Malkowski
Illustration, Copy Editing, Wed Design

Public Relations
Chris Heggem
Public Relations, Copy Editing, Video Production

Alisha Watson
Public Relations, Copy Editing

Thank you for expressing interest in the Spirit of Knoxville program. Please download our digital media packet for more information regarding these record breaking missions. Any other questions can be directed to our public relations team at: contact@spiritofknoxville.com

PDF Digital Media Packet (2.5MB)

Photos and video packets coming soon! In the mean time, visit our Flickr photo gallery for full resolution images here