The stories a high-altitude ballooning trailer can tell….

This poster provides a historical overview of the changes and upgrades to the St. Catherine University high altitude ballooning trailer since its purchase in the early summer of 2017. Some of the early important design factors of the trailer were its dropped axle as well as 6 6-foot loading ramps, which allow for ease of loading Helium tanks for the launch site. Early upgrades included angle iron tie downs for the tanks as well as the payload desk at the end of the trailer. More recent upgrades entail a portable power supply so that the team can do launches completely off the grid as well, and internal lighting upgrades to assist with nighttime missions. This storyline is expanded with an outline and summary of some of the major missions carried out with the trailer; from the 2017 total solar eclipse in Aurora Nebraska to the annular eclipse radiosonde campaign at New Mexico Tech in Socorro New Mexico to the total solar eclipse in 2024 observed at Taylor University and finally the 2025 gulf stream radiosonde campaign study launches at Ocean City Maryland, the physics trailer has put on over 12,000 miles and has served our university high altitude ballooning team well. We look forward to many more missions and more miles on the trailer as we continue to explore our dynamic atmosphere!