We launched at about 3am from Lake Coleridge, the recovery team was posted in Ashburton and monitored the launch with directional antennas and GPS.
The test was successful, with the payload successfully tracked by our radio system and recovered in Ashburton. The cutdown system fired when the balloon left the pre-set flight polygon determined before launch.
Preparing the payload to be sealed, payload boxes are made from the same foam as one would find in a surf board. The material is very light and strong, with the bonus of being easy to carve for the boards in the payload. The payload was broken up into 3 packages, one for the SPOT GPS, one for the flight CPU board and radio, one for the cameras (we had light illuminating the balloon from below for the flight).
Payload boxes parcel tied and secured with safety patterned duct taped. Each box has about a meter of cord. The Parachute is at the top of the packages.
Maneuvering the hydrogen tank onto the scales for balloon filling.
The recovered payload, parachute is visible here and at the base one of the LED tube lights can be seen. The payload had one green, one red, and one white LED stick to light up the payload and make it more visible on recovery.
Video of balloon release to come soon!
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