(This is a repost from the Facebook page.) FS2 was a very interesting (Strange) flight. FS2 flew a very slow circle around our launch site and then went in a northerly direction into Ft Irwin. FS went nowhere near the predicted path to the east. The balloon did not have the desired lift, so it […]
Weather forecasts continue to be good for launch on Saturday May 19th. Winds are predicted to be light. I ran a prediction comparing a theoretical launch today (May 16th) vs our planned launch on the 19th. I combined both predictions into a single graphic below. As you can see the winds today would carry the […]
Our eager squirrel was anxious to try out its new insulated hutch in the back yard and test the battery endurance overnight. Powered by a 3.2V 400 mah LiFePO (Lithium iron phosphate) battery, FS2 remained powered up for just under 16 hours. (15 Hrs 50 mins) This is excellent news because the flight hardware will […]
While SpaceX’s Starman gets to drive through space in a luxurious Tesla Roadster, Flying Squirrels have to fly in Styrofoam class. The 1” thick Styrofoam enclosure will keep the flight electronics and battery warm in sub zero temperatures that are found at high altitudes. Our intrepid squirrel will also be wearing a stylish pink fiberglass […]
[This schedule is out of date. The new schedule is located at : ] This is the final FS2 Telemetry schedule. The columns labeled “Min” is the minutes into the hour (i.e. 0 = top of the hour) that the scheduled event should happen. The schedule repeats after 30 minutes. Launch is tentatively targeted for […]
High altitude balloons are expected to drift, in the atmosphere. But Flying Squirrel #2 (FS2) has had some drifting problems of another kind. During construction as the FS2 flight electronics went from a breadboard prototype to final construction, a problem emerged. FS2 was not WSPRing clearly. In fact, it seemed to be more of a […]
Introducing our next intrepid sky traveler. The burning question of the Flying Squirrel #1 mission is “Where did it go?” and ultimately, “Where/when did it land?” So far the final resting place of FS1 has not been reported by anyone on the ground. It could be lost in the mountains and deserts of South […]
The FS#1 flight controller is designed to measure basic weather information (Barometric Altitude, Air Pressure and Temperature) and relay that information periodically to the ground via radio telemetry using the FSQ protocol. Additionally, the flight controller conserves battery power by turning off the radio and weather sensor between transmissions. In a nutshell the […]
Intro Flying Squirrel #1 (FS1) is the first of a series of small high-altitude balloons (Pico HAB) to be launched based on a design of being very affordable ($50 or less) per launch using as much “off the shelf” parts as possible. FS1 does not have an onboard GPS so we will not directly detect […]
Meet our intrepid explorer Flying Squirrel One. This very brave explorer will be the first Squirrel Engineering project to be launched in to the upper atmosphere lofted by nothing more than a 36 inch Helium filled party balloon. During the flight, our explorer will dutifully report temperature, air pressure and altitude back to mission control […]