Category: Uncategorized

Sand Bags?  I started researching this about five years ago. The motivation was discovering just how bad sand bags are and the fact they haven’t really changed in over a thousand years.

After three years of research and testing we got a design that worked so we put it into production. The new company has been running for just under two years now. We expanded into the warehouse next door to fit the 200,000 bags we keep in stock. It’s been an intense two years running both JPA and Sand Brick. Check out the sand bag site! Let me know what you think. At least the comments on the blog over there work!

www.sandbricktech.com

Like Michael Jordan the Archaepteryx has come out of retirement for one more round.  The Archaepteryx was our microgravity drop vehicle.  Like Buzz Lightyear it doesn’t fly but falls with style.  At its full 300 pound drop weight it provides 20 seconds of microgravity when released from a balloon at 100,000 feet.  For the last 20 years it’s been in storage.

The Archaepteryx is being reimaged as drag reduction test bed for the Airship To Orbit program. The vehicle will undergo a steep weight reduction program, from 300 to 20 pounds. That part is actually easy. The massive nose weight has been removed and the steel and acrylic internal structure will be replaced with a carbon and foam one. The Archaepteryx has a beautiful custom 26 foot orange and brown parachute and a mach 5 all kevlar ribbon drogue. That will be replaced by a 7 foot parachute out of the ML rocket.  Look for drop test to start in the fall of next year.

Here’s Away 43 just after liftoff.

The comment system has been down for two days now. I’m still chasing why.

This is what I’ve tried so far:

Reloading a new version of comments.php

resetting permalinks to default setting

Swapped themes

Upgraded wordpress

Verified <? php comments template();?> in single.php

Turning off all the pluggins

Disabled comments page breaks

Disabled threaded comments

Verified that the wordpress address (URL) is correct

Resetting the plugins folder

Up loaded new wp-admin and wp-include folders from a fresh download of wordpress

Increased available memory

I think I’ve stumped the wordpress forum.

Any ideas out there?

jpowell@jpaerospace.com

We conducted the first tests of a cloud chamber we’re flying next year. We got lots of good results however the chamber wall ended up fracturing pretty bad. Next, cloud chambers with thermal strain relief walls.

I realize that cloud chambers are rather old school. Most of this type of work is done with solid state systems. However, cloud chambers can be used to differentiate particle types while keep the weight and cost low. All three are important to get the data we need.

We put the Sky Pup up on the trailer for fitting.

Everything fit as it should. Now it needs the over the wing webbing mounts and the tail dolly tie down points.

Drew working on quad instrumentation.

Ed mounting an antenna on Away 48.

I’ve been moving old JPA video from tape to DVD. Here a clip from a balloon launched rocket test in 1995.

[wp_youtube]VnqM5qWxMqw[/wp_youtube]

We’re getting ready for the flight of the Tandem airship this fall, but we’ve already started design work on the next Tandem.  Here’s a peek at what we’re thinking.

We intend to use Tandems for Dark Sky Station Assembly, Mach Glider launching and for launching large rockets.

The team spent Saturday getting Away 47 and Away 48 closer to flight. Paul and Anthony got the cameras aligned to film rockets for Away 47 while Mike finessed the payloads for Away 48.   On another project the landing gear strap down mounts were added to the trailer.  I’m not sure if the Tandem or the Sky Pup will be the first vehicle to get to ride on the trailer.