[X] My Assistant

[djellison]

Next weekend, if everything goes well, a 15x30cm carbon deck will fly onboard HAPS-1 -http://www.pegasushabproject.org.uk/wiki/doku.php/missions:haps:haps-1

One end of the deck will be the flight radio, the other is my responsibility, a single camera (Powershot A560 ), stand alone GPS logger (to 18km), and a small wide angle mirror so the camera can see the payload, the chute and the envelope above.

Still working on a hacked firmware for the A560 - but the intention is every minute will include 15s of video, and then 5-10 stills in fairly quick succession - with the hope that the rotation of the balloon will give us some mosaics out of each section.

More details, some photos etc, later in the week.

[JTN]

Wobbly launch video now linked at the above page (or direct link), Apologies for rotation halfway through. Helen says on IRC that they're still getting signals and are hunting in a field in Diss.

[hmaffin]

Hi all

Doug's better half Helen here. Have been keeping the IRC thread up to date with news all day as and when Doug called or texted, due to the lack of ustream and tracking data.

About 15 minutes ago i had a call to say they had seen the balloon. They were hunting around a lady's paddock where they had tracked the beacon to, and she was helping them look. She then spotted the red material of the parachute in a neighbour's field, and he was around and kindly let them in to reclaim the balloon.

It was in one piece, good condition, and the camera worked a treat. The pictures, i have been told, are AWESOME - with black skies, bluey atmosphere, clouds and even a bit of the curve of the earth. The movies have worked too.

Doug says that pictures and videos will follow - but he won't be home here til nearly midnight GMT, so don't expect them for a few hours yet!

My congrats to the balloon team and hello to all those who followed the day on mibbit

Helen

[hmaffin]

hunting around a lady's paddock

Ack - i just realised how dreadfully euphemistic that sounds...

Anyway Doug's home now, so I'm sure pics will follow very shortly...