Balloons Culture

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

Balloons Culture has a variety of facets. 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.