Pacific Star 3 from Colin Rich on Vimeo.
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The Radionuclide tests returned negative.
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It's been almost a year since the launch of Pacific Star II. The whole time I had wondered how could I up the ante; throwing together a styrofoam box with some hacked cameras felt like it wouldn't suffice to the challenge I was looking for.
In mid December, I received a call from scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Department of Energy who asked if I could launch a Black Carbon experiment to test atmospheric levels of the pollutant. It was the perfect challenge I sought and together a symbiosis emerged that was able to open doors and gain access to things I normally would not be able to.
Launched from Ventura County, Pacific Star III traveled nearly 200 miles South, South-East, over the Eastern County line of Los Angeles and into the Mojave Desert.
Using a huge 3000g extreme cold weather sounding balloon I was able to go higher and farther than my previous attempts.
I wanted Pacific Star III to fly many months ago, but unfortunately, prevailing Santa Ana winds hampered any launch unless of course I was willing to take the chance that the payload would miraculously parachute from over 100,000 feet and land on Catalina Island off the coast of CA.
I plan and plan and plan and plan and plan and sometimes at the last moment the plans change as quickly as the wind changes directions.
After four scrubbed launches, it was a bit frustrating but anything worth doing usually is.
In the end, it's about the adventure of traveling down roads I've never been and never will travel down again while tracking the beast down and I smile to myself because I never know exactly where I'm headed. It's really all about the adventure and the challenge.
I want to thank everyone who has been supportive towards the Pacific Star series. For those of you who donated to the cause, this could not have happened without your support. Thank you so much!
Additionally I would like to thank Victor Gonzalez and
Next Limit Technologies for their support and patience. nextlimit.com/
For additional information on the flight go to:
pacificstarflight.com
facebook.com/#!/colinrich1
Music by Starfucker
myspace.com/strfkrmusic
(Thanks to Anthony Martinez for the find)
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