Greg Laden's Blog

I agree the footage sure makes the crew look like rank amateurs, but I disagree with Keith about payloads always being launched from the back of a truck. These large launches are pretty impressive and not too common, so I'd bet the internet has photos of a lot of launches from around the planet. I do seriously doubt that the crew have a valid excuse for this cockup though. For such a large payload it looks like they're not even using simple precautions which other teams use for much smaller (500-800kg) payloads.

Posted by: MadScientist | April 30, 2010 6:45 AM

The kind of failure you see in the video it's not uncommon to history of scientific ballooning.

Nevertheless in this case I think that many people is discovering for the first time what scientific ballooning is nowadays thanks to the widespreading of that quite spectacular and sad mishap.

I run an amateur website devoted to this field which has become a meeting point for many people once involved in this activity. Consulting with some of them they signaled his own opinions on the mishap:

Expert #1: "...First, it appears that the winds were too strong at mid- and upper-levels on the balloon and flight train. Second, the alignment of the crane appears to be at least ninety degrees off the wind direction and turning more away from the wind. This compounded the wind speed problem. Third, the balloon apparently had not reached equilibrium nor had it achieved lift. But had they not released it from the crane when they did, it would have turned the crane over on its side. That is apparent from the pendulum arch the payload took as it came off the crane and impacted the ground..."

Expert #2: "...In order for a balloon to lift a very heavy payload to the stratosphere, it requires a very large balloon with a lot of helium. The large amount of helium causes the balloon to rise very quickly when it is released. Any change in the wind causes big problems for the crew to align the launch vehicle correctly before the balloon starts to pull on the payload. It is apparent that the balloon got in front of the payload before the launch vehicle could get in the correct alignment for a good launch. The balloon apparently tore the payload off of the launch vehicle. With the balloon ahead of the payload, the payload did a pendulum motion hitting the ground and dragging before the parachute could be released from the balloon by command..."

Also take in account that a big crane as the used there is not as handy as the launch vehicles used in other launch bases.

Finally KEITH HARWOOD ¿can you contact me privately?

Thank you!

Posted by: StratoCat | April 30, 2010 3:13 PM