The Final Round of Crash Testing

Armed with stronger styrofoam coolers, duct tape, newspaper and eggs, Project Airborne set out Sunday afternoon to emerge from the last round of crash testing victorious.

With the new supplies and a different packing strategy, the egg and cooler held up to 2 drops at 23 feet and 4 drops at 65 feet. Spotters were on hand to make sure no one would be hit by the rapidly dropping cooler from the testing sites at the IST Building and the West Campus Parking Deck.

In other Project Airborne news:

• We ordered our imaging equipment which includes 2 Canon A 470 cameras, 2 8GB SD Cards, and a pack of lithium batteries.
• The process of applying for FAA flight approval has begun.
• Brainstorming on how best to place components in the package is being performed.
• Parachute options from pre-made to garbage bag-based solutions are being considered.
• Our GPS Cell Phone tracking package is up and running. It delivers location information every five seconds.

Please check out the gallery below for pictures of the final (and successful) round of crash testing.

Preparing Second Generation of Launch Package

Dropped from 22 feet

The Egg Is Safe and So Is The Package!

View From The Top Of West Campus Parking Deck

View From Second Crash Test Location

Letting it go

Falling!

The Egg Didn’t Break! Even after a ~65 foot drop.

The Package After 6 Crash Tests.