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Zephyrus Theta
Zephyrus Theta
Zephyrus Theta was launched on August 24th, 2025 and consisted of two balloons, alpha and bravo. The purpose of this mission was to simultaneously launch two balloons from the same location, at the same time, with identical payloads in order to observe variations between them and see how accurate our flight predictions were.
Preparations
Preparations
The tables on the left show the payload for Zephyrus Theta. In all, the balloons consisted of valves, parachutes, spot traces, LightAPRSs, Cosmic Watches, and airTags. The payload mass of Balloons Alpha and Bravo is 933 grams and 943 grams, respectively. Path predictions as well as burst calculations were also conducted in advance in order to prepare for Zephyrus Theta's retrieval and to give a rough estimate of the neck lift, which was adjusted later.
Burst calculation and path predictions for both balloons since they theoretically should have been on a similar path.
Launch Information
Launch Information
The two balloons for Zephyrus Theta were launched at approximately 12:30 pm EST (16:30 UTC). Alpha took close to 20 minutes to fill up the balloon, while Bravo took close to 26 minutes to fill up. Balloon Alpha had a payload weight of around 933 g with a neck lift of 23.3 N, while Balloon Bravo had an approximate payload weight of 943 g and a neck lift of around 23.7 N.
Flight Information
Flight Information
The flight information for Balloon Alpha of Zephyrus Epsilon is incomplete because a lot of the tracking devices failed, and some of the data was lost after it landed in a lake, though we know it ended up traveling close to 100 miles (including its travel down the lake). Balloon Bravo had an estimated flight duration of 1 hour and 58 min with an estimated maximum altitude of 108,900 feet (33,192.72 meters). Balloon Bravo landed at approximately 2:28 pm EST (18:28 UTC).
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