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Ultralight party balloons in WEEK-LONG marathon flight

Brits' payloads travel suggestively all over Europe

A couple of ultralight balloon payloads have for the past week traced suggestive paths over Europe, and continue to transmit from the skies over Belarus and Bulgaria (click pic for a bigger version):

The rather phallic tracks of the balloons seen on spacenear.us

Leo Bodnar's B-11 and B-12 missions were launched from Blighty's Silverstone Circuit on Sunday 1 and Monday 2 September, respectively. Each comprises a UBLOX GPS, PIC24 microcontroller and 434.500MHz transmitter, powered by solar panels and a LiPo for night-time operations...

The B-12 payload on the scales

...while a foil party balloon provides the lift:

The payload slung under a foil party balloon

Leo told El Reg that while the B-11 is functioning as planned, B-12's LiPo has clapped out, so the payload only transits during the day. Radio hams across Europe have tuned in to track the pair, and continue to monitor their progress as they trace virtual todgers across the heavens. ®

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