Weather balloons

Skywatcher · Unread post by **Skywatcher** » Thu 13/06/2013 09:59

Anyone have information on who is launching the balloons from Tekapo ?

From yesterday:

ASCENT OF FREE BALLOONS WILL TAKE PLACE FM NZTL
(PSN S 44 00 07, E 170 26 29). BALLOONS ARE 13M IN DIAMETER AT
LAUNCH. FIVE LAUNCHES WITH A MINIMUM OF 15 MIN SCHEDULED INTERVAL BTN
LAUNCHES. PAYLOAD WEIGHING 12KG SUSPENDED 9FT BLW BALLOONS.
EST ASCENT TIME 1.6 HOURS. DESCENT TIME APRX 1 HOUR ON PARACHUTE

They actually launched 6 and one ended up over 350km off the coast ! Two were launched on Monday and one last Friday...

At least the balloons were free

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Thu 13/06/2013 20:30

June 7th:

Tekapo police were called to Lilybank Rd about 11am yesterday after a witness reported seeing a collapsed parachute hit the ground. Police said the object was a weather balloon that was claimed by two American scientists

Its the NSA!!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/ne ... e-Notebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Air-Safaris/85896296724

Ive asked who is releasing them.

Skywatcher · Unread post by **Skywatcher** » Thu 13/06/2013 21:38

I wondered if it was something to do with the Sofia flying observatory due in ChCh next month... that's NASA not NSA though...

Skywatcher · Unread post by **Skywatcher** » Sat 15/06/2013 07:28

Another launch - this time from near the Waimak Gorge bridge and currently drifting SE.

iomkiwi · Unread post by **iomkiwi** » Sat 15/06/2013 08:18

And another one

Skywatcher · Unread post by **Skywatcher** » Sat 15/06/2013 08:19

Third one now - the first passed just north of here but was too cloudy to see it.

iomkiwi · Unread post by **iomkiwi** » Sat 15/06/2013 08:39

Is it 3 or 4 now? those with 'no call sign' appear to be as well as the HIBAL ones

Skywatcher · Unread post by **Skywatcher** » Sat 15/06/2013 08:54

That's 4 so far... make that 5 with the Singapore flight about to pass to the south of them.

bmo · Unread post by **bmo** » Sat 15/06/2013 15:39

Would never have guessed the people releasing the balloons are from Google...
http://www.wired.com/business/2013/06/g ... =co8868374

Skywatcher · Unread post by **Skywatcher** » Sat 15/06/2013 15:53

Well spotted... now on Stuff: http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digit ... ches-in-NZ

jamie · Unread post by **jamie** » Sat 15/06/2013 16:04

Yea just heard it on the radio. Bizarre.

cantygal · Unread post by **cantygal** » Sat 15/06/2013 16:26

My friend is writing customised forecasts for the Americans who are here launching them here and has been for over a week. Today they were at a private airfield in amongst the gloom.

bmo · Unread post by **bmo** » Sat 15/06/2013 16:28

They're having public demonstrations from 10am to 2pm tomorrow at Wigram Air Force Museum

Razor · Unread post by **Razor** » Sat 15/06/2013 17:03

Yes, its google alright

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Sat 15/06/2013 17:53

Lincolnian wrote:They're having public demonstrations from 10am to 2pm tomorrow at Wigram Air Force Museum

I heard this on the radio, would love to go down. Wonder about the weather though...

It was all very secretive before this article, I wouldn't have guessed google!!

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Sat 15/06/2013 18:07

More here on Loon http://www.google.com/loon/
I think I will go out to Wigram tomorrow

You can also sign up to reg as a loon tester.

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Sun 16/06/2013 10:26

At the loon event in Wigram

Tornado Tim · Unread post by **Tornado Tim** » Sun 16/06/2013 11:08

I would be very concerned with the amount of upper atmospheric litter these balloon could make once they degrade over time.

Its a nice thought but is feasible with the environment? i don't think so.

Orion · Unread post by **Orion** » Sun 16/06/2013 11:40

As jamie observed above: bizarre.

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Sun 16/06/2013 11:53

Tornado Tim wrote:I would be very concerned with the amount of upper atmospheric litter these balloon could make once they degrade over time.

Its a nice thought but is feasible with the environment? i don't think so.

I thought this as well when I first heard about it. But after talking with Google Engineers and the guys who designed this balloon (Some American Aerospace company who work with NASA) I think they are on to something here. This technology could really take off.

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Sun 16/06/2013 12:19

Might add Steven Graham they were very interested to see your photo of the "Weather balloon" you took from Templeton. They mentioned you were probably the first person to photograph one of these at this height.

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Sun 16/06/2013 12:27

loon.jpg

Wonder what the reward is...

Skywatcher · Unread post by **Skywatcher** » Sun 16/06/2013 12:56

03Stormchaser wrote:Might add Steven Graham they were very interested to see your photo of the "Weather balloon" you took from Templeton. They mentioned you were probably the first person to photograph one of these at this height.

I couldn't see the balloon but I knew where to point the camera from a program I wrote to display the bearing and elevation of aircraft from the ADSB data. Even then I took half a dozen shots in a pattern using a 400mm lens and that photo was a small crop of the original 5760x3840 image.

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