QinetiQ 1 Balloon
The QinetiQ 1 launch was made from RV Triton early on the morning of 3rd September 2003 off the west coast of Cornwall. Sadly, the record attempt had to be aborted when a tear occurred in the 43 million cubic foot balloon's fragile envelope material as it was being inflated with helium. Airborne Engineering Ltd wishes the QinetiQ 1 pilots every success with their next launch attempt.
Here is the Airborne Engineering press release for the QinetiQ 1 project:
Airborne Engineering Ltd Power The QinetiQ 1 Altitude Attempt
Airborne Engineering Ltd are the main contractor for electronics systems on the QinetiQ 1 Balloon project. QinetiQ 1 is an attempt to break the altitude record for manned helium balloons, last set in 1963. QinetiQ 1 will be flown by two pilots, Andy Elson and Colin Prescot, to an altitude of 132,000 ft (25 miles up). The flight will take around 8 hours to complete.
Airborne Engineering Ltd has been involved in the project from the early stages of the balloon's design, providing engineering consultancy services. Additionally, we have designed and custom-manufactured a wide range of equipment to meet the particularly challenging requirements of the flight. Equipment on board QinetiQ has to operate under a wide pressure and temperature range. The pilots have a very restricted range of movement in their space suits leading to some interesting ergonomic challenges for control of the balloon's systems.
QinetiQ 1 pilot intercom controller
Systems provided by Airborne Engineering Ltd include the following:
- an environmentally-hardened intercom system to interface the pilot's Zvesda space suits with the balloon's radio systems
- a downlink carrying 2 simultaneous channels of live video, selected from 8 on board video cameras under control of the pilots
- a secure radio communication system to allow the pilots to talk to the ground crew aboard the launch vessel (RV Triton)
- a telemetry system to provide the ground crew with safety-critical information about the balloon's systems in real time
- on board recording of video and telemetry for post-flight analysis
- a power distribution system to supply all the on board equipment and provide fault protection
- a "standard" avionics fit of air band radios and transponders to allow the pilots to safely coordinate with air traffic control services
- ground support equipment including power distribution, receivers, cabling and computer infrastructure for Flight Ops aboard RV Triton