We’ve started experimenting with a new material, paper honeycomb panels. It’s light, very stiff, strong and cheap. We plan on using it as an alternative to foam for a core material in carbon structures. We also going to try it out for balloon interface panels for the next Dark Sky Station and Ascender.
As a first test it’s being used a the instrument deck on Away 46. That will give us a chance to see how it handles extreme cold and vacuum. The deck ended up the same weight as our existing carbon and foam deck. However it took only a fraction of the time to make and a quarter of the cost.
I’m giving a talk Wednesday March 24th at the Sacramento chapter of the AIAA’s monthly meeting. It will be all about shooting commercials and documentaries at 100,000 feet. Here’s a flyer from AIAA with the info:
The folks at Grey London (the producers of the Toshiba Space Chair Commercial) just sent word they posted another video of JPA on YouTube. It’s more behind scenes of the chair launch and recovery. Did I really look that tired?
We’ve had a some intense build sessions the last couple of weeks. Big crowds of team member building like mad. We’re attempting five flights and two motor firings on our next trek to the desert. It’s a huge pile of work, and the team has risen to the occasion. Remember, no work, no Kirk.
Paul is about to sew on the last panel of the new balloon launch bag. Ethan is doing his evil intern impression.
Each vehicle uses about 20 customs cables and harness, (with 5 vehicle that’s a lot), here’s Bob cranking out a pile of them. Those look suspiciously like JP’s feet hiding in the crew module mock up.
Away 44, 45 and 46 will be carrying PongSats aloft on April 24th 2010.
If you want to be on board send me an email with your contact info and how many PongSats you want to fly. I’ll send you ID numbers to write on your PongSats. You will need to send your PongSats to us at least a week before the flight. Important Note: Spring missions often get delayed for weather. Our rain alternate date is May 8th.
Away 44 and 45 missions are single balloon flights to 100,000 feet. Away 46 is set to go higher, around 120,000 feet. Space is limited on Away 46 to five PongSats so let me know early if you want on board that one. There is plenty of space on 44 and 45 for lots of PongSats. Everyone is welcome to fly.
Our new Jellyfish balloon uses inflated struts. They don’t have an outer shell so there not true air beams. However, they are beams and full of air. Last night we tested the maximum pressure the unsupported tubes could take. The answer ended up being very complicated. The beam held fine at 1.1 psi then bubbled, stretched and burst as the pressure dropped down to 0.7 psi. We retested varying the pressure between 0.5 and 0.7 for 30 minutes, (est. first flight duration). It held just fine showing no stain. The beam need to hold 0.4 for the structural needs of the balloon. In flight the pressure will be monitored and controlled and now we know to keep the max pressure at or below 0.7 psi. Even a brief spike at higher pressure creates failures in the plastic matrix. Once that happens the beam is toast even at much lower pressures.
Today we drove the plasma side of the “desktop” quad engine to 300 watt. No components melted, nothing caught on fire, and it even generated plasma. Points ahead!
We won’t fire the hybrid side of the engine until we’re out in a remote area. There is still a lot of plumbing to be built first though.
We got an altimeter for the Sky Pup. I may be a wimp, but I can’t fly without one. The Pup has a GPS on board however the GPS response rate for altitude is a little slow. We’re using a MicroTim Digital altimeter. It’s a very nice instrument and fairly low cost.
