Hi,
This is to announce that the joint Romanian-Australian team have released the footage of our stratospheric balloon eclipse flight, Eclipser 1 which successfully captured footage of the eclipse from 25000m(82000ft) altitude. After the eclipse, it continued to rise to a maximum altitude of 36800m(121000ft) which we believe is the third highest flight recorded in Australian airspace.
I recommend you set quality to HD1080 and watch on a big screen but take a travel calm pill first. It's very blair witch - quite the wild ride.
You can see the Moon's umbra approach from the west before the eclipse starts. The umbra is clearly visible out to sea for some time after the end of totality. The balloon continues its ascent to 36800m then bursts. At burst altitude the temperature is about -80C and pressure <1% of sea level so when the latex balloon bursts, shards of brittle rubber go flying in all directions with almost no air to slow them down.
You see the capsule tumbling as it free-falls for 19000m. Then at 18000m altitude a parachute deploys and it comes back to earth. Of course, the chute got snagged 20m up in a tree posing one final hurdle for the recovery team.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=W_9eYcGIT88
Here is the link to the balloons APRS tracking. This was broadcast live during the flight and used by Air Services Australia to track the position in addition to the periodic call ins at each 10000 foot level.
http://aprs.fi/#!call=a%2FYO4SJI-11&timerange=86400
The team responsible for the project included : -
Catalin Beldea, the developer, astronomer Science & Technology, Romanian eclipse chaser
Florin Mingireanu, ROSA researcher and engineer in aerospace technology
, Romanian Space Agency (ROSA)- Public organization by Romanian Govt. Decision 923/1995;www.rosa.ro
Marc Ulieriu, editor Science & Technology
Adrian Florescu, president amateur radio club YO3KSR
Joe Cali, legal compliance, protocols, approvals and Liaison with CASA and Air Services Australia Air Traffic Control in Cairns and Brisbane. Logistics support.
Howard Small, specialist tracking radio, amateur radio club president in Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Samantha Scafe, radio tracking specialist
The Eclipser1 project was conducted by
the Romanian Space Agency ROSA, YO3KSR amateur club and one in Cairns and supported by
Duracell.
We would also like to gratefully acknowledge Professor Michael Bird and his staff at James Cook University, Cairns for assistance provided to us during the lead up to launch.
Joe Cali