FAQ
Feel free to ask any additional questions via the comment below and I’ll add the answers here.
Technical Faq
- What if you hit a plane? What safety precautions are you taking?
- It’s cold up there. How are you gonna prevent your phone from freezing?
Question: What if you hit a plane? What safety precautions are you taking?
Answer:
Although it’s extremely unlikely that Astdroid will encounter any air traffic, the appropriate precautions are being taken. Astdroid will fly only with the permission of the FAA and they will be notified before, during, and after flight time to ensure that the craft’s position is effectively communicated.
Question: It’s cold up there. How are you gonna prevent your phone from freezing?
Answer:
Yeah… it is REALLY cold. In fact, the air temperature at altitudes we’ll be traveling to may be below -70F.
Truthfully, the temperature is one of the greatest concerns of the Astdroid project and a difficult problem to tackle. I think the key factor will be insulation. With a good styrofoam cooler, properly sealed, and some hand warmers near the electronics I think we can safely operate.
If you want to learn more about the standard atmosphere, the wiki is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Standard_Atmosphere and an awesome table generator can be found here: http://www.digitaldutch.com/atmoscalc/
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Bill Thomas
