A Near Space Photo (and a Leg Lamp)
A mechanical failure caused the capsule to become separated from the balloon/parachute. The capsule free fell from 60,000 feet without a parachute and survived! Amazingly, all the equipment inside the capsule was recovered intact. The video shows the details...
On board, we had a Canon SD870 point and shoot (using CHDK in time lapse mode), a GoPro and a GPS tracker. For the time lapse of our setup, I used the Trigger Happy dongle and iphone app set to take a photo every 10 seconds.
We coordinated through the FAA and gave them data to issue a Notice To Airman (NOTAM). According to FAA regulations, if the balloon is under 6 lbs, you don't need FAA approval but it is not a bad idea. Apparently University of Virginia launches balloons frequently so the regional FAA center was used to it.
A lesson learned was to NOT USE ZIP-TIES (even the heavy duty kind) to attach the capsule to the parachute/balloon. The extreme cold and the unbelievable high winds caused them to fail one at a time until the capsule detached from the parachute. The capsule was a Rubbermaid box about the size of a shoe box that was filled with Styrofoam.
Enjoy the video and the photo,
-Allen
Only thing... it would be better if the song didn't have swearing in it. Kids might want to watch this (f-bomb is dropped at 2:57 and maybe somewhere else). Also choose a song without stupid autotune... arrghh why.
Sorry I don't like pop music.
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