Moment of truth for LOHAN's servos: Our US allies are poised for final test flight

The matter of whether our Vulture 2 spaceplane's servos will freeze at altitude will be resolved on Saturday by our US allies at Edge Research Lab, when they send a complete spaceplane autopilot/battery/servo rig stratowards.

Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) regulars will be aware we've been fretting about our avionics' reaction to the cold at altitude, and there are doubts the Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries, which power the whole shebang, will deliver sufficient juice as the temperature drops.

They work well enough on the ground, but it's evidently prudent to check them out under mission conditions.

So, it's ta-very-much to David Patterson and his Edge colleagues who'll include our kit on a High Altitude Ballooning (HAB) mission tomorrow, whose primary purpose is to test their "BEACON e-field sensor".

The BEACON project, aka the "Balloon Enabled Atmospheric Conditions Observation Network", is designed to peer into the dark heart of thunderstorms, and there's more on the storm-chasing initiative right here.

Saturday's launch is planned for 14:30 Zulu from Colorado Springs East Airport, and you should be able to follow the action on a live map right here.

Meanwhile, enjoy this improbably plausible interview for International Business Times, grabbed during our recent LOHAN knees-up in London, in which Edge Research Lab gets a well-deserved heads-up ... ®

Youtube Video

More from the lovely LOHAN:

• You can find full LOHAN coverage right here.
• If you're new to LOHAN, seek out our mission summary for enlightenment.
• There are photos our our magnificent Vulture 2 spaceplane here, and detailed structural plans here.
• For your further viewing pleasure, we have all our photographic material stored on Flickr.
• Our LOHAN and Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) videos live on YouTube.
• We sometimes indulge in light consensual tweeting, as you can see here.