What’s Happening at JPA

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200811142311.htm

Congratulation !!!!!!!

We really need to get busy.

Last night we made a new inner cell for the rib. The inner cell is a 14 meter long 50cm in diameter tube with a high pressure and low pressure nozzles attached. It’s cut and assembled from 0.7 mil sheet poly. We also added snaps to the rib access panels. The velcro was starting to pull away a bit on the last full pressure test. The snaps will help keep the panels in place.

Here’s the partially inflated Ascender rib test article. In addition to making it bigger we added more access panels. The access panels make it easer to keep the inner cell aligned correctly when it’s being installed. It really does form a nice ellipse when fully inflated. Ascender 100 will use nine of these. Eight this size and one larger bow rib.

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Instead of starting from scratch we decided to modify the Ascender rib from last week. We found the error and have made eight extensions to bring it to the correct size. A lot of Saturday was spent pulling seams, an eighteen foot ellipse all double seams at the perimeter and triple seamed at the joints has a LOT of seams. With that accomplished we’re started sewing back together again. Sometimes….

The control servo was mounted on the reel down system and the next round of testing should start this week.

On the rocket balloon launch box the bridal mount was installed. This is the structural backbone that gets attached to the balloon.

Tucked, unmarked, in a back corner of Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Center hangs one of the most amazing planetary probes ever flown. I came across it on while doing the book signing there for “Floating to Space”
It is the Vega balloon that flew in the atmosphere of Venus, well it’s the backup vehicle. The real one that flew in 1985 is still on Venus. This single mission put a lander on the surface of Venus, sent a balloon flying in the atmosphere and sent the “mothership” to intercept Halley’s Comet. All three elements of the mission were a success. Incredible.

Here’s the link to the news story. A great big thank you goes out to Dale Schornack and all the News10 folks!!!!!
http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=49811&catid=2

The team really cranked it out last night. The launch box repairs are nearly complete. We’re now modifying the attachments from a Dark Sky Station mount to a balloon mount.

We had completely disassembled both shop ground stations to make room for assembling the Ascender ring inner envelope. By the end of the night it was all back together and talking to the test away vehicle rig.

The JPA piece should be on TV in about an hour. We’re now entering the “JP NERVOUS ZONE” . Dale (the reporter and news anchor) always does a great job, but the butterflies still do their thing in the stomach.

Just a thought before the election.

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If you are in the greater Sacramento/Stockton California area tune in to News10 (Channel 10, local ABC news) this Thursday evening.

Dale Schornack the evening news anchor joined us in the desert for the Away 36 mission. He’s been out in the dust and wind with his camera for about a decade now filming our efforts. He’s put together a piece about the whole thing, the from balloons to orbit. They’ve started airing previews of the piece tonight. I just saw one and the scenes are great!

It should air on the 6 and 11pm newscasts.