← All journal posts

November 25, 2013

Why predicting where you're going to land is important

I made a script so I could click on a potential launch site on the map, then call up a script at the University of Wyoming's high altitude balloon trajectory forecasting tool.  It works great, but here's a great example of why this prediction is needed!   On the day of launch, I'll use this tool to select a launch site that gives the capsule a good chance of landing in the Central Valley, hence has decent cellphone coverage on the way down.  I'm not swimming for sure.

Launched from San Mateo at this time, the capsule would end up in the sea.
Launched from San Mateo at this time, the capsule would end up in the sea.
Black Sky Robotics · blackskyrobotics.com Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, OpenFreeMap