Launch conditions were far less than optimal. The ground wind was out of the west south-west at a steady 20 mph with gust up to 30 mph. Inflation was hampered by the balloon oscillating from the gusts. Therefore ascertaining an accurate lift proved impossible and our ascent speed hovered around 2.5 ft/s. An hour into the flight the balloon altitude had only reached 49k feet.
The technical aspects of the flight were almost flawless.We sent aloft 1 still camera, an upward and sideward pointing video camera, a live video transmitter, and a LabQuest recording alpha, beta, and gamma radiation levels. In addition a new and improved cut down system was on board. The cut down system work perfectly. A couple of minutes prior to launch the timer was set to 60 minutes and executed on time. The only hiccup occurred with the radiation meter. A switch was not moved prior to launch so no data was recorded.
The live video feet exceeded our performance metrics and maintained contact until 30 kft. Once the command module was cut from the balloon we did not regain the live video feed. We're not sure why as we expected the link to reestablish once the module fell below the cut out altitude. The agreed upon most likely culprit was that the antenna was spinning to fast.
Overall a good flight considering the bad launch conditions.
The technical aspects of the flight were almost flawless.We sent aloft 1 still camera, an upward and sideward pointing video camera, a live video transmitter, and a LabQuest recording alpha, beta, and gamma radiation levels. In addition a new and improved cut down system was on board. The cut down system work perfectly. A couple of minutes prior to launch the timer was set to 60 minutes and executed on time. The only hiccup occurred with the radiation meter. A switch was not moved prior to launch so no data was recorded.
The live video feet exceeded our performance metrics and maintained contact until 30 kft. Once the command module was cut from the balloon we did not regain the live video feed. We're not sure why as we expected the link to reestablish once the module fell below the cut out altitude. The agreed upon most likely culprit was that the antenna was spinning to fast.
Overall a good flight considering the bad launch conditions.
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