John Powell Receives the
2006 Benjamin Franklin Citizen Scientist Award
John Powell, president and founder of JP
Aerospace, received the Benjamin Franklin Citizen
Scientist Award during the 2006 meeting of the Society
for Amateur Scientists at Providence, Rhode Island.
Since he was a child, John has had
a vision for devising innovative methods for entering
space. In a memorable interview by Rob Wilson in Out
of the Cradle: Chronicles of the New Space Age,
John
recalled, "My mom has a picture I drew when
I was four years old. It was a picture of my spaceship
factory. Not a picture of me flying in space, but a
row of little ships under construction. I've never wanted
to do anything else or be anything other than what I
am right now. I can't remember when it started; it's
always been there."
John is best known among the amateur
science and education communities for his PongSat program.
A PongSat is a ping pong ball containing a payload that
is carried to the edge of space by a high altitude balloon
platform or rocket. PongSat payloads can be as simple
as seeds or a marshmallow, which expands and becomes
freeze dried during its flight. Or they can be complex
digital data loggers.
So far JP Aerospace has launched nearly
2,000. Participants pay nothing for this service, which
is financed by sponsors, some of which might also fly
larger payloads on a PongSat flight.
During his Benjamin Franklin lecture,
John showed videos of how PongSats are lofted into the
upper atmosphere. During one recent flight, the PongSats
were stowed in fabric bags mounted within a platform
loaded with instrument and cameras (see JP
Aerospace for photographs).
Balloon flown PongSats can reach an
altitude of from 24.4 to 39.6 km (80,000 to 130,000
feet). Rocket launched PongSat balloon platforms can
travel even higher.
PongSat missions fly through most of
the ozone layer before they begin their descent. John's
ultimate vision for reaching space reaches much higher,
for his dream is to develop a low-cost means for sending
space craft into Earth orbit through his ambitious Airship
to Orbit (ATO) project. The ATO approach is to fly an
inflatable craft to around 43 km (140,000 feet), where
a permanent station will eventually be placed. The orbital
vehicle will combine aircraft and rocket technology
to achieve Earth orbit following launch from the permanent
station high in the stratosphere.
Sound impossible? Then check out the
JP Aerospace
web site to learn about and see photographs of some
of the huge airships John's company has already constructed.
You'll also learn why John Powell so richly deserves
the 2006 Benjamin Franklin Citizen Scientist Award.
Forrest M. Mims III 
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