Nov 03 2013
Riding on the success of Launch 5’s payload and electronics, Launch 6 was essentially a repeat of our setup. Preparation was much easier since all of the enclosure was ready, the electronics were ready, and we knew the quirks of the system. Even the weather and wind patterns were in our favor. The only downside …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.apollo67.com/2013/11/03/launch-6/
May 13 2013
On May 12, as part of a going-away celebration for our departing Apollo67 team member, we launched yet another balloon. He is now on the other side of the world in Australia, and we are currently drawing up plans to deliver a payload to him via high altitude balloon. We think crossing the equator and …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.apollo67.com/2013/05/13/apollo67-launch-5/
Feb 08 2013
This is a super short post because we have very little record of this launch. Sadly, we lost it, and we never heard from it again. This was our payload: It was a nice launch, just not a nice recovery. Here is a video that shows the launch and more details.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.apollo67.com/2013/02/08/launch-4/
Dec 16 2012
Apollo67 had its third launch this weekend. Our goal was to test different hardware this time. Previously, we had problems with the cell phone because it lost signal quickly but then didn’t acquire signal at all or only after a long time after landing; it’s not a good solution for tracking a balloon in progress …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.apollo67.com/2012/12/16/apollo67-launch-3/
Mar 06 2012
We’ve successfully recovered our payload, and with it the data that had been recorded. It appears that the balloon stopped recording partway through the flight, but we still got a significant amount of data. Here is the track of the balloon as far as we have data: And here is video of the initial launch: …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.apollo67.com/2012/03/06/data-from-our-initial-launch/
Feb 20 2012
At this point, all we know is that it was found on a beach in Grand Haven, MI, which is directly across the lake from where it should have landed. Recovery is being negotiated now. This gives us a recovery time of 3 months from launch. The phone is soaked, but may still work once …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.apollo67.com/2012/02/20/initial-launch-discovered/
Nov 28 2011
After our lost initial trial, we decided to try again, this time with some backup devices that would aid recovery. We still wanted to make sure it was easy to handle the hydrogen, we wanted better documentation of the filling and release process, and we wanted to above all test the app. Because our goals …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.apollo67.com/2011/11/28/launch-2/
Nov 26 2011
Because we were not able to recover our first attempt, we have lost our ability to enter the Hackerspaces in Space competition. However, we’ve invested a lot of time and effort into this project and hate to see our efforts wasted, so we’ve decided to continue working on the project. You should see our documentation …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.apollo67.com/2011/11/26/on-the-hackerspaces-in-space-competition/
Nov 22 2011
Just because we didn’t get any results doesn’t mean we didn’t see room for improvement. Here’s a partial list of things we noticed and things we’d like to improve. Filling went reasonably well, but we didn’t have a way to measure how much gas had gone into the balloon, and we only had a rough …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.apollo67.com/2011/11/22/lessons-learned-thoughts-for-improvement/
Nov 21 2011
We have no data about the phone. It’s been over 32 hours since launch. When we launched our estimates had it landing within cell coverage somewhere between Madison and Milwaukee. Because we heard nothing from the phone, even immediately after launching, we can only assume that it got out of cell reception range and stayed …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.apollo67.com/2011/11/21/post-launch-discussion/
