Smoke is how a circuit board expresses love.

JonM and I started construction on the payload hull tonight for AHAB3. We had a pretty easy job figuring out where to put everything, given that we only have one camera, a transmitter and some batteries.

The Package

Then we cut some pink foam to rough size – 3 8″ x 12″ pieces of 2″ foam and cut the interior hole to fit the guts into.

Moar AHAB3 guts

Now, we wait for the contact adhesive to dry on the three pieces to put it together.

Inspired by the video Luke posted and watching the videos Bre made of the first AHAB projects, I decided HackerBot Labs needed another round of putting a payload into NEAR SPACE!

On Saturday December 13th at 8pm HackerBot Labs kicked off AHAB3 its 4th project related to near space exploitation. The AHAB3 project will focus on sending a single payload with multiple cameras into the skies.

The three main themes of the project are to keep things simple, testing testing testing, and to apply the hundreds if not thousands of lessons learned from the first three launches. We can’t control the stars and the winds, but we can eliminate a lot of the variables and increase our chances for a recovery.

I’ve taken on the role of manager/PHB for AHAB3. I’m supported by seven incredible leads and the dozens of others that will pitch in over the coming months. Without this army of awesome people AHAB3 would be nothing more than a daydream so thank you all in advance!

The seven leads will each be responsible for a different areas of the project. We’ve broken down the AHAB3 project as follows.

Payload – Amy
Electronics – Jon
Logistics – Naj
FAA – 3ric
Communications – David
Documentation – Beth
Recovery – Pierce

It’s going to be a lot of work, and as with any project at the HBL we’ll have a ton of fun along the way. All of our effort can be tracked right here at this blog so check back soon for photos, videos, and entries on our progress.

…and there was no shortage of either last weekend.

We’re as excited as ever about our science and autonomous flight goals, and continue to work to success. Thanks again to all of our sponsors and supporters.