We’ve been upgrading the airship helium valves. They flew on A129 & they’ll get tested again on Away 130. We’ve changed the plumbing & doubled piston pressure. Here’s a pic of the valves on the last test & some bad drawing to show how it all goes together.
They are going to be install on the 48 foot Ascender airship expected to fly late next year. We expect to fly three high altitude tests before they go on an airship.
80 foot carbon airship truss. We use a ‘Common Architecture’ system for everything we fly. This is not only an Ascender airship truss but a Dark Sky Station truss and a Tandem airship truss. Take a chunk off the end and it’s a rack that we fly PongSat missions on.
#jpaerospace
High altitude airship valve testing. Before a part goes on one of our airships, we haul up to the edge of space and put it through it’s paces. The first is the old generation helium valve, the second, the new. The new goes up for testing again on Away 130.
You totally want a PongSat Mission Patch! (Jedi mind trick marketing). PongSats student payloads are always flown for free. To pay for it we sell patches, tee shirts, books, PDF’s anything to keep us flying. Check out this awesome space patch at our store:
https://dark-sky-market.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/pongsat-mission-patch
We’re changing the internal structure of our airships from carbon trusses to air beams. 20 pounds per 100 feet just isn’t light enough.
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