A high-altitude balloon flight that carried a KFC chicken sandwich into the stratosphere last week met all test objectives, according to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥-based World View Enterprises.
But the planned four-day mission was cut short after about 17 hours when the company decided to land its Stratollite craft because of a small leak in one of its altitude-control balloon systems, World View CEO Jane Poynter said in a prepared statement.
World View conducted the flight last Thursday as part of a KFC promotion for its Zinger Spicy Chicken sandwich and first multiday shakedown mission for the balloon system, which uses a proprietary control system to navigate and can essentially hover over a spot on Earth.
Poynter said that within the first few hours of flight all system test objectives were met, “including the keystone altitude control capability, solar power generation and successful distribution, high-definition video downlink and effective steering of the vehicle.â€
People are also reading…
Many of the balloon systems were flown for the very first time and tested together simultaneously, she added.
Meanwhile, the chicken-sandwich payload “performed flawlessly and experienced incredible views from the edge of space,†the company said.
While cut short, the flight was the company’s longest in duration to date, after a series of flights no longer than about 12 hours.
Poynter said that, pending an analysis of flight data from the mission, World View plans to launch additional Stratollite test missions with increasing flight duration in the near future.