[aprssig] K6RPT transcontinental balloon flight

[Mark Conner]

K6RPT-11 is headed east at 160 mph out into the Atlantic at an altitude of
107,000 ft.  A cursory look at the forecasted winds at 100 kft indicate it
should continue almost due east all the way across if it can maintain
altitude, going feet dry near Spain/Portugal/Morocco.

The balloon's tracker has an expected lifetime of 50 hours, and has been on
for about 28 hours.  I don't think it can quite make the Iberian coast in
the 22 hours it has left, but perhaps it will last longer than expected -
certainly the balloon has!  The balloon was expected to burst around noon
today, but has made it to sunset and beyond.

Congratulations to Ron K6RPT and the California Near Space Project on an
amazing achievement!

The NG0X-2 balloon may still be aloft over the Northeast, but with a silent
transmitter due to the extreme cold at altitude.  It may come alive again
within range of East Coast stations soon after sunrise, when the batteries
warm up a little, just as it did Monday morning.

73 de Mark N9XTN
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.tapr.org/pipermail/aprssig_lists.tapr.org/attachments/20111212/95125d83/attachment.html>