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Mass Effect 3: Space Edition Landing Zone Predictions

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Mass Effect 3 will be the first console game launched into Earth’s upper atmosphere on a weather balloon on February 23rd from San Francisco and then a subsequent city around the world for 6 more days.

The package containing the game will have a GPS tracker on it which the Mass Effect 3 page says it'll have a tracker on it at http://masseffect.com/space.

So where will it end up? Will it head North, South, East or out West to the ocean. Apparently, the trajectory can be calculated taking into account prevailing winds and weather forecasts. Well, the University of Wyoming has a weather balloon trajectory forecast that uses data extracted from the Global Forecast System that will predict the landing point of a weather balloon.

The predicted landing will be updated right at launch time so check back.

Weather balloons typically reach a height of 30,000 meters at which point they usually burst because of diminishing pressures causing the balloon to expand. The package will have a parachute on it allowing it to fall safely back to Earth.

So, according to calculations the Mass Effect 3: Space Edition will land at:

The landing zone will be at 36.54 degrees north, 121.76 degrees west

Will travel 71.5 nautical miles

In a direction of 139 degrees magnetic from the initial position.

It will be aloft for 2 hours 33 minutes

Which will be at the green point below.

San Francisco Launch

Here's the actual path for San Francisco.

Las Vegas Launch

Vegas has launched!!!

The landing zone will be at 35.6394 degrees north, 114.3297 degrees west

Will travel 85.2 kilometers

It will be aloft for 2 hours 13 minutes

Las Vegas Mass Effect 3: Space Edition Actual Path

New York

Launched from Palmerton, PA and clipping along at 50 mph

It's still going to end up in the water unless they've adjusted the helium volume.

If you want to track it in real time go to the APRS Krogan Call Sign Tracker.

New York Mass Effect 3 Spaace Edition Actual Path

Spot on - it just came down earlier.

London Launch

Second launch.



A tweet from @MassEffect has confirmed the launch site as Cambridge so that the copies land on the outskirts of London.

The Cambridge Airfield NOTAM says that that the balloon launch will take place from the grounds of Churchill College, Cambridge.



So we know that in previous launches they added more helium to increase ascent and, therefore, decrease the travel distance which is what we used in te London calculations.

If we use normal helium pressure rate then we get this:



London Launch actual paths

Paris Launch

Has been cancelled!!!

Berlin Launch

OK, here we go - the last Mass Effect 3: Space Edition launch. Luckily, most Germans speak English (did you know that?), so hopefully we'll get to chat with them in the forum. [I used to speak fluent German, but likely couldn't ask for a Kaffee Kuchen or Pfannkuchen in a Konditorei any more.]

The area around Berlin is mosly residential which should make for a clear landing space for the balloon and we won't get the "lost in the forest" fiasco that we did in San Francisco as long as they try to keep it away from the Tegeler Forst (nördlicher Teil) in which case it's likely to get hung up in the dese trees there.

There appears to be strong upper level winds as all scenario runs takes the trajectory for almost 150 km.

We tried to pick a location that would get the predicted landing zone within the Berlin city area.

If anyone hears of the actual launching point let us know in the comments below and we'll get a quick run of the scenario completed.

Here's a picture of the rig that's going up http://t.co/BX86WYXH

Almost ready - http://t.co/MiJMOD4N

Copy of Mass Effect 3:Space Edition sold on Ebay already.

Space balloon inflating http://t.co/G3dDAQ4d



Well, Derek Larke from BioWare just posted "First coords are 52.39359 - 13.0683" so we ran the scenario and it will end up in Dresden.



Balloon 2 is launched!!!