Make it so

Harbor and BYU eclipse test launch. Rexburg, Idaho. 12th August 2017

Introducing Eclipse Chaser 3

T-minus 3 hours to launch, the weather looks good the Hydrogen has been brewed, all set to go. I carry half of the required gear downstairs ready to go to the launch site at Ternate airport. On returning with the rest of the gear one minute later I find that my laptop with all of the software and settings needed for the flight has been stolen from the hotel lobby. The timing for this could not have been worse, it took a long time to prepare the computer and electronics to communicate with each other. At this point it looked like the end of my project. Then, our german eclipse chasing friends lent me a laptop, we installed all the necessary software, drivers and settings. We are back on for launch! Running late now, we raced to the airport to try to prepare. With time against us in the blazing heat sitting next to a large amount of highly flamable Hydrogen, we managed to launch the payload. The chase begins with some in cars some on bikes; we rush down to a nearby harbour to board the boats we have waiting for us. First priority is to race south towards the blue sky for totality. With about 1 minute to spare we reach the clear sky, cut the engines, sit back and watch a massive sphere of rock glide across to fit perfectly in front of our sun. We are now in the shadow.The Corona, Mercury, Venus and a massive solar flare are all visible. Trying to come up with words for these moments is pointless... all I can say is go and witness one for yourself. After a brief moment of contemplation we set off racing around the island after the balloon. A few kms off the west coast we find ourselves directly under the balloon, I send the signal to cutdown the payload from the balloon. A bunch of code displays on the screen with the words "command failed to execute" we sit helplessly as the balloon continues to rise on it's way towards Silawesi. I am sure with my laptop this command would have worked as it had been well tested. At this point, with laptop batteries running low, I give up, jump off the boat and go for a much needed swim. Hopefully someone will someday find the images we took and enjoy them. A big thank you to the Indo Eclipse crew, the awesome people at BMKG (Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika) and especially to Mr Riva from BMKG, without whom this attempt would not have been possible. Next Eclipse: America 2017, we will see...

Home brew Hydrogen's the new Helium.

First flight path prediction for eclipse day, looks good for a splash down not far off the Ternate west coast. Early days this will change.

After realising i packed the wrong power module, i searched the town looking for a soldering station to do some dodgy workarounds. Using completely the wrong words for the task (thanks google translator) i eventually found one and managed to fix the problem, only to come back to the hotel, plug it in and find out that my flight computer has not survived the last month bumping around in my bike bag. Luckily the spare is on it's way but this means all preflight tests will have to be done at the last minute.

Eclipse Chaser 2 has just been granted flight permission!!!
This is a DIY, near space adventure that will hopefully witness the Total Solar Eclipse on the 9th of March 2016. This package of cameras, sensors and electronics will be taken to a height of 30-40km above the earth by a Hydrogen balloon. After capturing images of the Eclipse, from above 99% of the atmosphere, the balloon will explode and send the cameras hurtiling back torwards earth. Once there is enough atmosphere a parachute will slow the descent giving us enough time to track and chase it in 2 super fast speedboats we have managed to obtain. At this point we will only have a limited amount of time to find the cameras before power runs out or seawater makes it's way into the electronics. Happy time, sad time, we will see

Eclipse chaser 1 was a homebuilt autonomous flying wing designed to return a set of cameras and sensors from "near space" after witnessing the total solar eclipse of 2015 above the north sea near the Faroe islands. For this project i failed to get flight permission so it never flew. I have just obtained flight permission for Eclipse chaser 2 a simplified version that will witness the Total Solar Eclipse of 2016 from 30-40km above North Maluku, Indonesia

Tangkoko national park siliwesi

Finally arrived in Ternate, North Maluku after a month of extremely hot cycling