Flight #T2000-3 "Persephone Test Flight"

Launch Date: May 24, 2000

May 24, 2000

This was our final flight of the tri-camera payload during our South Dakota trip. This one actually returned some photos, and the balloon behaved itself down low, but as soon as it got about 100' high, the wind started messing with it. This lead to some rather wild payload pendulum motion. We viewed this as amusing, but didn't know that it was causing the balloon-to-payload tether to rub against one of the nylon cable ties we used to seal the balloon nozzle shut. The tie acted as a saw, and eventually the tether broke, causing the payload to free-fall from 700 feet to the ground.

We did not include a parachute or cutdown mechanism on our tethered flights to this point, but we've decided that both would be a very good idea. The possibility of a balloon-to-ground tether failure leading to the loss of a payload (no transmitter, GPS, or any other recovery gear on board) is significant, so some sort of emergency release is needed.

Here is a rundown of the flight specs:

Winds: ground winds 10mph, above 500feet much higher.
Cloudy
carried stamp, servos, three cameras

Estimated maximum altitude: 700 feet

Comments: two aerial photos recovered, payload destroyed after falling 700
feet:(

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