70 foot diameter Dark Sky Station system map.
Our 200th run and a long, strange trip it's been.
New Video! youtu.be/8JZFaViMiSIThis is a short "Video Poster" of our airships.I think it came out great. Check it out!
Working on the airship, deflated.
Working on the airship, inflated.
MHD plasma engine research test firing #83.
MHD plasma engine research test firing #83 the other side.
The team continued working on the Ellipse yesterday. We put in the foam spaced that separate the inner air beams giving the airship an elliptical cross section. The structure in the arms is working great. The nose still needs more work.
Inside the nose of the Ellipse airship looking aft. The air beams are installed but not yet inflated.
Inside the right arm of the Ellipse airship looking forward. The air beams are inflated and the spacers in place.
Ellipse airship with a circular cross section, air beam flat. Ellipse airship with elliptical cross section, air beams inflated spacers in place.
A quick YouTube Short about Project Hazel:
Our answer to Project Hazel: The TransAtmospheric Ascender.
Today the team reinstalled the air beam inside the Ellipse airship. We had completely changed the attachment system and put a big zipper in the nose so we could front feed it.
We got it all installed and it worked perfect. One problem down.
Working inside the Ellipse airship. This is the outer envelope with the air beam structure installed. Next on the list is to test fit the helium inner cells.
Last night's plasma engine work. MHD test firing No. 130. A flash of light, then three weeks of data to sift through.
MHD test firing #130. This is at the end just before shutoff. The particles are very charged and you can see the "braided" path they take after leaving the magnets.
MHD test firing #130 in the first 1/100 of a second before it settles in.
MHD test firing No. 131 ended up being a bit of a monster.
MHD core testing at 120,000 volts. We exceeded our power goals yesterday, but we burned out a lot of equipment. This is mainly because we've been using already pretty worn stuff we cobbled together in the shop to keep the cost down.
Orbital Ascender airship: Cutaway.
