Over the weekend, Romanians loaded the much-vaunted (on this blog anyway) moon-balloon aboard the naval frigate NSSL 281 Constanta. Here are some photos of the loading (more here).

From these pictures, it’s clear to me that the non-profit Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA) is serious like a heart attack about this moon-balloon plan. If all goes well, a critical test flight validating the moon-balloon concept will fly later this week over the Black Sea. I’ve put some questions to their spokesperson about the balloon strategy, and I’ll post them as soon as I get them!