HAAID-1 Flight Report High Altitude Artificial Intelligence Demonstration 1 HAAID-1 was a high-altitude balloon flight carrying an onboard AI payload. The payload used a Raspberry Pi Zero with 512 MB RAM to run a locally stored SmolLM-2 360M language model during flight. The flight took place on 29 May. All times below are in UTC. At approximately 03:54 UTC, the balloon lifted off with the payload suspended below the balloon and parachute assembly. The payload carried the onboard flight computer, camera, sensors, GPS systems, radio transmitter, batteries, and supporting electronics. At approximately T+5 minutes, telemetry from the payload was lost. From that point onward, all live communication with the payload ceased. After telemetry loss, the flight computer continued operating independently. A fallback routine had been pre-programmed for a loss-of-signal condition. Under this routine, the payload was configured to start AI inference automatically once the altitude crossed 5 km. After crossing 5 km altitude, the onboard SmolLM-2 360M model began processing prompts from a pre-saved input file. Each generated response was logged to a separate output file on the onboard storage. During flight, the payload completed inference for 12 prompts. Each prompt request took approximately 4 to 5 minutes to process due to the limited compute capability of the Raspberry Pi Zero and its 512 MB RAM. At approximately T+59:38, the balloon burst due to the reduced external pressure at high altitude. The recovered logged data records the burst at 04:53:37 UTC. The maximum logged altitude was 18,890 m ASL. After burst, the payload and parachute assembly entered descent. In the upper atmosphere, the parachute had limited effect because of the thin air. As the payload descended into denser air, the parachute became more effective and reduced the descent rate. At 05:33:22 UTC, the payload landed approximately 70 km downrange from the launch site. At landing, the payload was under the influence of the parachute. After recovery, the data confirmed that the onboard system continued operating after telemetry loss, initiated AI inference after crossing the altitude threshold, completed 12 inference runs, and saved the generated answers onboard. Flight data: Total flight time: 1 h 43 m Launch: 03:50:01 UTC Burst: 04:53:37 UTC Landing: 05:33:22 UTC Maximum altitude: 18,890 m ASL Ascent time: 1 h 03 m 36 s Descent time: 39 m 45 s Average ascent velocity: 17.4 km/h Maximum ascent velocity: 26.5 km/ Average descent velocity: 27.8 km/h Maximum descent velocity: 61.6 km/h Terminal velocity: ~18 km/h Lowest external temperature: −68.0°C Lowest internal temperature: −4.52°C