NIGHT CREW LABS
January - November 2022 - NCL collaborated with Mark Rober to perform an ambitious egg drop experiment from the edge of space. Mark Rober is an ex-NASA engineer who is now a very popular YouTuber who creates science-based stunts and videos geared for people of all ages.
Mission
The premise of the mission was to conduct a well-known egg drop experiment, but this time on hard mode. Typically, elementary school students design parachutes and cushions around an egg and drop it from a two-story building, hoping the egg will not crack. In this mission, Mark Rober wanted to do something similar with an egg, but this time take it to the edge of space, have the egg go supersonic speeds on its way down, and land with pinpoint accuracy on a mattress pad.
Needless to say, the mission and build was very challenging. Mark Rober and his team was in charge of the egg payload and release mechanism. Joe Barnard of BPS.space designed the original rocket that would take the egg supersonic and navigate to a landing pad. Night Crew Labs designed the balloon bus system and took the egg and rocket up to the edge of space for release.
Initially, three low-altitude test flights were attempted near Gridley, California in January 2022. These flights tested major aspects of the system, including the rocket navigation algorithms and systems working together from the three partners. Many lessons learned, re-designs and re-work were needed in preparation for the main flights. In February 2022, NCL geared up for the first high-altitude egg drop test near the Mojave desert. Leading up to the flight NCL scouted for good launch/landing locations, predicted balloon trajectories, and kept a watchful eye on changing weather conditions. Just prior to the launch there was an issue with the payload so the flight had to be scrubbed. The second flight attempt was made in April 2022 with great results.
Results
You’ll have to watch the full YouTube video to see what happens! The video was released in late November 2022, and it immediately went viral and was #1 on trending. As of this writing, Mark Rober’s Egg Drop video is one of his most popular and has over 29 M views. You can watch it here.
Client: Mark Rober (@markrober)