Sadly PS-30 pico flight ends

The small pico party-type balloon from Australia has not made it home and crashed near Madagascar just east of Africa. Andy Nguyen VK3YT who put the balloon up in Melbourne on December 27, reports it went down early on January 16, just 25 hours short of three weeks in the air. Andy VK3YT says: "There was some bad weather in the region, but speculations also include the possibility it was brought down (attacked) by the naughty Penguins on the Island."

A number of radio amateurs from South Africa reported that PS-30 had stopped flying and was down. It had travelled easterly across to the southern tip of New Zealand, the Pacific Ocean to South America, then to Southern Africa, and had a forecast path to Australia.

Andy VK3YT says: "A big thank you to everyone that have assisted with the trip in many ways, from tracking, to sending feedback, words of encouragement, and getting help when needed. The level of interest from all around the world has been amazing. The trip would not have been so successful without the collective effort of the like-minded community built-up along the way."

It was latest pico balloon he had launched with it having a 13 grams payload including a 25mw transmitter on WSPR and JT9, to send tracking and flight data. Already PS-31 is being planned, with Andy VK3YT saying: "See you at the next trip".

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