MalfunctionM1Ke

Great Scott, thats terrifying. I love it Edit: Just pulled that gif/mp4 out of the video.If you open it in a new window, you can scroll through it frame by frame (at least on firefox) and see Valentina disintegrate and the Parachute coming down. http://i.imgur.com/Gd4BBk8.mp4

Having a Kerbal on board probably jinxed the crash-landing But actually there was a parachute on board, unfortunately it failed because of two reasons: 1st- the balloon did not disintegrate but stayed mostly intact and because itself was attached to the top of the parachute, its remains (which still were quite heavy) fell on top of the parachute and got tangled up with it. 2nd- the ruler i attached Valentina to made the payload a little bit more heavy on this side. Because of the deflection of this flat surface to the direction of motion it acted like a propeller. This is probably why you can see her spin to the left on ascend and to the right on descend (well on descend it is probably due to drag). Because of this spin, especially while descending, the cord, the parachute and the remains of the balloon became one tangled mess and the landing was a bit harder than anticipated, but not a failure. You can see that the parachute was still giving the craft some decelaration because the Camera kept upright during the whole time, so it was attached to "something that was trying to fall slower than itself". Thats what I got out of the video-footage, might be wrong though

Probably yes, but maybe not this year.

Val is not doomed, the guy who found her managed to find her pieces and handed them over aswell, so i might be able to rebuild her The balloon is attached to the top of the parachute which holds it closed during ascend and SHOULD make it deploy when the balloon is gone. Unfortunately, it seems like there were way too many remains of the balloon left after it popped which pulled the parachute on its side. To get clarification what happened i have to launch another one with a camera looking up

KSP is such a BAD game that I smashed the 3d-printed figurine that Squad sent me... ... by dropping it on the floor... ... on a field 250km away... ... with a helium filled balloon... ... from the stratosphere... ... that took me a year to build... ... and taught me alot... Yeah, such a bad game *irony off*

On the top on the post, you got it? Btw. here is what is left of Valentina

I added the full playlist to the first post, knock yourselfes out

Not really IN KSP, but related Hope you all enjoy. It was a very exciting day. More to come.

This challenge is done. See the first Post

Northern. There is a big impact texture on bop, it is just north of it.

Update - everything is go More pictures in the main post.

OF COURSE it is the FliteTest-Guys. They do alot of amazing RC-Stuff

It is actually quite simple and there are quite a few tutorials on youtube. this should give you a rough idea

The Balloon arrived and looks good but i will inspect it on monday when i bought a few pair of rubber-gloves. Maybe i will drop the idea of using pure Helium as i am running into constant obstacles while searching for a supplier. I am thinking about switching to ordinary balloongas which is helium mixed in with other gasses that are cheaper but also lighter than air. [citiation needed]

Fingers crossed for good weather

Update: The supplier for the ballon emailed me today, that he sent out the order and attached the delivery-tracing. The helium will be bought the day before launch because it is a very flighty gas and I fear that most of it will have vented from the closed gas-bottle if i buy it long beforehand.

I put one on Minmus and named it Spacecatraz. I also knocked off all engines from the Base so nobody could escape. It was later when I realised you can get into orbit of Minmus with the EVA-Suit

I guess I am done for this update. If anyone finds something irregular, please post it below. Much appreciated

The first Screenshot that actually shows something

whack-a-kerbal

Update: I received all needed permission. Turns out I dont even need an Air-traffic-control clearance in my rural launch-area The Balloon will be ordered today and I am going to buy the helium maybe tomorrow. Now only the weather could be a no-go.

Sure, it sits on Bop, quite dead the last time I checked But just in case....

Thanks for the help but i think I am fine. I dont mind to keep this project going for a longer period of time because i have to learn something by myself. It actually boosts your knowledge even further and thats what I was aiming for by doing this in the first place. But yeah, thank you very much I am curious and wondering if hydrogen is actually that closely regulated in germany. I thought it was not only a fire-hazard but also a danger to the airspace. But because the airspace would be cleared anyway for my balloon it wouldnt actually matter AND I could reach a even higher altitude by using hydrogen instead of helium because i would need less gas for the same lift with putting less stress on the balloon as it expands. I believe It would also be far cheaper, because it can be produced. Instead of helium which comes either out of a nuclear reactor or mostly as a by-product from oil-extraction. I have to investigate Maybe for future launches. I limited myself to a budget of 1000€ for this project and I am far away from exceeding it, but every bargain is appreciated Edit: Oh, and I will oder the balloon next week and go shopping for a nice bottle of freshly picked helium

I received my Launch-Permit yesterday and I am very happy about it. The only thing that is actually missing right now is the "ok" of the Airtraffic control and I am trying to get in touch with them regularly. Kinda frustrating but I am hopeful that they will respond. I am pretty sure they dont want UFO's lifting off in their Area

Thanks mate Actually I intend to to that, you have to open all the "spoiler-tabs"