I went to a High Altitude Solutions meeting last night! This time, I know what it stands for. Essentially, they launch a huge helium balloon into high altitudes to simulate space like conditions.
Most of the meeting was focused on the dramatic situation at hand! As it happened, on Sunday, HAS launched their balloon. At around 31,000 ft, they lost it! All three communication systems failed and the "kill" switch malfunctioned! The "kill" switch, which is also called the Flight Termination Unit, cuts the line and drops the payload (which is the camera, I presume) back to the ground. After the failure and loss of contact, extensive rescue measures were then put into play! The team was hopping on planes and calling the FAA on their frantic search for their lost data. However, Sunday night did not end well for them as they could not recover the stray balloon.
Balloon recovery, surprisingly enough, is the most painstaking, and perhaps most entertaining, aspect of these situations as it is difficult to predict where the payload (attached to a parachute) will land. Stories of landing in bodies of water and prison grounds are not unheard of -- especially with these guys!
Luckily, Monday brought better news as a kind farmer named Annette found the balloon in her yard and was gracious enough to call HAS and inform them that she recovered it.
Thank goodness for good Samaritans.
Here's a cool HAS video!
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