High Altitude Balloon Launch Sunday 4/26 @ 9am

[Zach Zeman]

I know this is late notice, but it is at least some notice.

We will be launching a high altitude balloon, codename CGW DragonTwo, from Longview Park in Columbia later this morning. Feel free to come watch the launch. If you can't make it in person, follow the path of the balloon online at aprs.fi.

Thanks, and happy hacking.

-Zach

[Ryan Raney]

Launch successful. Track us online!

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[Chad LaFarge]

When I get back to a laptop, I'd LOVE to get a KML and "fly" along with it :)

Chad LaFarge | hangout producer | claf...@gmail.com | 573-289-8851

[Ryan Raney]

Unfortunately we lost telemetry around 11:30. We're driving around trying to pick up the beacon directly with no success. It should be on the ground by now but we're not having any luck finding it yet

[Alex Collette]

On your way back to Columbia, you should try to do a drive by near the last seen location, to see if you can pick anything up.

Hope you find it.

[Ryan Raney]

Doing that now. Cross all your fingers

[Alex Collette]

Crossed

[Ryan Raney]

We're at the last known location trying to run simulations to determine where it would land if that was the burst height. We have an audience.

[Zach Zeman]

So, just to make sure everyone is updated, the payload is officially lost at this point. There is a minuscule chance the secondary tracking system will transmit again, but at this point we can only hope that someone comes across it and finds the note inside.

The launch went swimmingly. The filling system was excellent, and the safety protocols ensured no undesired explosions happened. The first ten minutes of flight showed every indication of success, with updates from both tracking systems. After that, we started to have trouble receiving the primary. The last update was an hour later from just west of Fulton, clearly at a high altitude but with an invalid GPS lock. We headed out to the predicted landing area and backtracked over the flight path, but we never got another position update.

Unfortunately, that's just how space programs go. We did a lot of things right just to get the balloon off the ground and we've learned a lot. We'll improve for next time. Thanks to everyone who helped with the effort and everyone who followed along at home. I had fun, and I hope you all did too.

-Zach

[Alex Collette]

Is there a place that you want us to upload photos and video from the launch to?

Thanks.

[Ryan Raney]

Make a folder on the computer at the space, that way we can all have all the footage and anyone who wants can edit it into something with all the angles

[Zach Zeman]

I bet you weren't expecting an update in this thread.

But, lo and behold, David received a message today from the satellite tracker in our long lost high altitude balloon project, a full six months after launch. The message he received indicated that the HELP button had been pressed on the tracker and included the current location.

We hastily got together a group of CGW'ers able to get off work and took off after this new hot lead. We went to the house closest to the GPS coordinates and the farmer there, while he didn't know anything about the satellite tracker or who might have pushed the button, took us in his Gator to search the area. We spotted the tracker easily in the open grass, but none of the other equipment was in the immediate area. Based on where the tracker was and some apparent bite marks near the button, however, it seems that it may have been picked up by the farmer's very friendly chocolate lab, who carried it into the field and somehow managed to push the button with his teeth.

We didn't have much time to search today, but we have contact information for the farmer and will hopefully be arranging a weekend trip to perform a more thorough search. Keep an eye on this list for more information, as we'll need a number of volunteers.

Map of the Tracker Location: https://goo.gl/maps/KWDiJpzTwqt

Picture of where it was found: https://goo.gl/photos/E1RSmCzJMUpWzD3m6
The survivor: https://goo.gl/photos/wVwCSNXvSZ44zqik8

Thanks.

-Zach

[Dan Goldstein]

Damn thats amazing!
Clearly we need a dog on our team next time!

I hope you at least gave the dog a treat...

"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory   out there - good for you.
 
But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of the police forces and the fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory...
 
Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea - God bless! Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and you pay forward for the next kid who comes along."
- Elizabeth Warren (Sept. 2011)

[David Vogler]

We gave the dog, Max, the next best thing. Lots of head scratches and pets. He seems pleased with the exchange. :-)