SyncFleet Launch: Great Success!

Photo by planetwrite / HeatSync Labs. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

As many of you have known, HeatSync Labs entered Workshop 88's Hackerspaces in Space contest.  After Noisebridge successfully launched their first nearspacecraft, HeatSync Labs established SyncFleet to challenge California's space prowess and bring together Arizona space geeks of every kind, some with successful nearspace projects of their own under their belts, to reach the edge of space.  With the experience and expertise of a capable crew, we were able to build the HSL Majel Barrett nearspacecraft to withstand the harsh environment of the stratosphere and the smackdown of gravity that finishes the voyage. Oh, and it recorded video!

Fun facts:

* We launched on August 28th, 2010 at 8:08 am|az from [Gordon] Freeman road in Gila Bend, AZ.  We all got up at 5am|az because apparently space has weird office hours or something.

* The balloon's location was transmitted from time to time, and that was mapped and not too far off from our predicted flight path (WARNING: Comic Sans):

* Accurate altitude data failed to be transmitted, but by calculating the time interval photos were snapped with the time from launch, and taking wind speed in mind, its estimated that the highest altitude reached was between 60,000 to 70,000 feet.

* A central wireless access point was created inside Zach.P's car using his phone's wireless connection and was used to share internets across cars in our caravan that were close enough to it.

* The craft parachute worked and the payload landed on Earth at 9:40 am|az with hardly a scratch.

* There are a lot of random roads all over the Gila Bend reservation that don't appear on Google Maps, Ovi Maps, or OpenStreetMap.

* Details on the technology that went inside the payload can be found in our wiki.

Pics because it happened:

Thanks to everyone at SyncFleet for making this happen!  Our next launch is in the works, stay tuned!