Remember that lost High Altitude Balloon we lost back in January?
We found it!
Actually, a community member found it while mowing some weeds. The payload box suffered some landing damage, and the florescent orange parachute had bleached completely white. But the camera SD Cards were intact, and the images were glorious!
Yes, the time/date stamp in the video is incorrect (it should read 1/17/19); and the camera batteries failed at apogee, so we have no descent/landing footage; but those are small details compared to the overall mission.
After being buried in snow, rain, and 100 degree summer heat, both cameras still work! They were cheap go-pro clones, and we didn’t use their waterproof housings (saving weight).
We used our GPS data to construct a 3d map of the flight, and from that predicted a probable landing zone. The balloon was found inside our search zone, about 1/4 mile from our first search area.
More video to come; students are working to edit all the footage into a coherent story, with characters, plot, crisis, growth and resolution.
It’s a relief to know how the story ends.
This years project: Solar hot air balloons to the stratosphere!
