The launch of Soli Deo Gloria 7, a solar Montgolfiere balloon towed by a latex balloon. This balloon suffered a catastrophic failure over Lake St. Clair around 10:30am on 22 Aug 2007. The last known position was south of Walpole Island at approximately 22,000 feet.
The tow balloon is a standard 800g latex weather balloon... The solar Montgolfiere suspended below (deflated) was made from 8 micron thick high density polyethylene film. The spreader ring (not load bearing as in my previous tetroons) at the bottom is a $2.88 generic hula-hoop from Walmart.
Payload contains a Microtrak 300 transmitter and encoder, Geko 201 GPS, DC-DC voltage converter and two 9v lithium batteries.
rrochte 4 years ago