A floater balloon launched by the Forestview Middle School high altitude balloon club on Jan. 18 unfortunately failed.
Teacher Jim Reed reported Thursday the tracker attached to the balloon never checked in with the balloon's location, meaning the balloon was lost. The class suspects the balloon had a pinhole leak, which they would not have been able to detect before the launch, he said.
"Live and learn, so hopefully the next one goes a little better for us," Reed said.
Right after the Jan. 18 launch, when the balloon's situation looked dicey, the class ordered another tracker and balloon. All the equipment is ready, he said, the class is just waiting for the weather to cooperate. The ideal launch time is in the morning with clear skies and no wind.
"That's tough this time of year," Reed said.
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The class is also looking for an ideal time to launch its customary balloon with the goal of reaching the highest altitude possible. The class record belongs to a balloon launched in August of 2014 which reached 113,080 feet. It was the sixth balloon launch overall for the class.
"We're pretty much ready to go," Reed said. "We've probably got about two days worth of work left."
The floater balloon was intended to complete multiple laps around the Earth, during which the transmitter would provide data on longitude, latitude, altitude and direction of travel. The balloon is intended to float at about 40,000 feet, which is about 5,000 feet above commercial air traffic. Through the balloon, the class would get live feedback on how the jet stream affects weather patterns, as well as the path the balloon takes around the world.
The last official day of the high-altitude balloon class is Wednesday. Once a launch date is set, the class will meet again the day before to prepare and again after the balloon is recovered to process the data collected by the high-altitude balloon.
