In celebration of the UAE’s 43rd national day JPA flew the UAE flag to the edge of space. It was a great mission and adventure. The first vehicle, Away 111, verified winds aloft and the second vehicle, Away 109 was our largest Away vehicle ever at just over nine feet long. It carried carried a huge 8 X 4 foot flag, signs from our sponsor, four HD cameras and the first 50 PongSats from the middle east.
Yesterday we tested the magnetic emergency drop weights on Bellavia. We had the magnets hold the 40 pound each weights for two and a half hours then hit the drop switch.
The general layout of the drop weight test harness:
This Saturday the JP Aerospace Beyond Geek Episode airs! In Sacramento it will be on KVIE2 at 6 pm. It features the Airship to Orbit Project and lots of PongSats! Please share this and get the word out!
This weekend we conducted another test inflation of Ascender 26. In this test we fitting in the keel, inner helium cells and starboard helium transfer tube.