[LeArc] Adler balloon mission on 10/4 was a success!

[Mark A Garrett]

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Mark Hammergren" <mhammergren at adlerplanetarium.org>

Sent: Tuesday, October 7, 2008 5:36:04 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
Subject: Adler balloon mission on 10/4 was a success!


Hi all, 

The Adler's latest balloon mission, lucky number 17 in our "Far Horizons" program, was a resounding success! Launch occurred about 45 minutes later than originally planned, but it went off without a hitch under a clear blue sky and calm winds. The balloon rose at around 700-800 feet per minute to 113,926 feet -- about 14,000 feet higher than any of our other missions. 

The payload landed near Twelve Mile, Indiana, a straight-line distance of 90 miles from the launch site at Koerner Aviation in Kankakee. We were only about two miles from the payload when it touched down in a newly fertilized, recently harvested cornfield, about 100 feet from the road. Retrieval was easy, if a bit smelly, and we were joined on our return drive by about a hundred flies who stowed away on board the van. 

Most payload systems appeared to function nominally during the flight. We missed only a couple APRS packets during the entirety of the flight, and continued to receive packets within about a mile of the payload after landing. The HD video camera recorded a little more than two hours of video; processing and file conversion are underway. The downward-pointing QVGA video camera recorded an unknown amount of video, but the video file apparently failed to close out properly when the camera lost power. We are trying to recover that video. 

All in all, a very successful and fun mission. Secial thanks go to Steve Koerner and the rest of the folks at Koerner Aviation, volunteers Fred Johnson, Dan Bartkiewicz, and Eric Olson, and IMSA student interns Matt McDermott and Kelly Wu for helping us out with the launch, chase, and recovery! 

-- Mark 

Mark Hammergren, PhD 
Astronomer & Director, AstroScience Workshop 
Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum 
1300 S. Lake Shore Drive 
Chicago IL 60605 
312-322-0319 





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