Balloons Culture

Balloons Culture refers to the set of traditions, history, and story that have resulted in the "Balloons Way of Doing Things".

There are many facets to balloons culture. The primary defining characteristic of the balloon team culture is one of :laid back fun and adventure" without negligence of a rigorous engineering environment. This culture has been developed and maintained by activities such as Balloon Bonfires, Balloon Lunches, Overnight Launches, Balloon "Songs", and parody/satire. Balloon Payloads have been decorated with materials such as googly eyes, mac'n'cheese duct tape, and "BEAT CAL" insignia without compromise of rigorous engineering integrity.

Balloons Culture also emphasizes a focus on rapid turnaround. Balloons are a powerful and affordable test platform for a variety of technologies, which can be launched on a near-seconds notice. Hence, the limitation lies primarily in the speed of technology iteration and readiness for testing. A notable example of rapid turnaround is ValBal -- the time between conception of the idea and a flight to Canada was mere months. Often, tests of valve, ballast, or avionics systems occurred in intervals of mere two-three week periods. A typical balloon launch schedule features three or four launches per quarter -- an average of a launch every 2.5 to 3 weeks.