Benjamin Chase Email & Phone Number

Chincoteague, Virginia, United States

During my second internship at NASA Wallops Flight Facility for the Balloon Program Office, I designed a system to measure the volume of a superpressure balloon (SPB). To estimate the volume of a SPB, the device took radius measurements from within the SPB at various heights. A LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanner measured the radius accurately and precisely, while a winch mounted to the apex (top) was used to raise and lower the LiDAR. This enabled the generation of an accurate cross-section model of the SPB and was used for volume estimation. This system was designed to be deployable during flight within the stratosphere and could withstand all flight conditions.

Wallops Island, Virginia, United States

In the summer of 2023, I interned at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in the Balloon Research Development Laboratory. My projects included wind tunnel instrumentation of scientific balloon models, using sensors with Raspberry Pi, and creating an inventory of the lab to track assets.