Yesterday we came in to a weather forecast of “Legitimate Marginal”. This means there could very well be a launch opportunity, but the conditions probably wouldn’t get perfect—just acceptable. In the spectrum of marginality, this is a fairly positive forecast.
So, we showed up in the morning, went through our pre-flight checklist up until being picked up by The Boss. Then, we had to wait for the surface winds to go down. The low-levels were great all day, but the surface winds never cooperated. Just before 5pm, after having idled all afternoon, we officially scrubbed.
We waited extra long because the forecast was to get worse over Christmas. This morning we have already been scrubbed for today and tomorrow. Having Christmas off is small consolation.
[image title=”Legitimate Marginal” size=”large” id=”4506″ align=”left” alt=”The weather, in the morning of our “Legitimate Marginal” day” ]
The weather, in the morning of our “Legitimate Marginal” day
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- Tristan is flying a bunch of Goblin Balloon Brigades for souvenirs
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- Matt collected a large bunch of walkie talkies for our use during the day
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- Taping up the last bit of sun shield
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- Robin gets a seatbelt, for protection during the long flight
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- Ladder and hose
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- Everyone signs the floor
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- Signatures
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- The Boss shows up. Things looked promising enough for pickup to proceed
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- Going out the door for not-the-last time
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- Hotel Mezzanine reopens. Tristan needed sleep after staying up late to generate schedule files
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- Enzo holds the solar panel, as it’s opened outside
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- Elio attaches the solar panel strut
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- Gabe comes out to watch/supervise
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- Wind bags around electronics. Very useful, since it was windy all day
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- Barth and Laura do systems checks inside
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- Vic breaks out his awesome commander helmet
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- Leash attached under the center, where it won’t dangle in front of solar panels
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- Curtis handles the leash, and the cord on the launch pin
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- Christmas-coloured pads under the feet
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- Lorenzo watches from the staircase
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- Dave takes a moment to watch and relax
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- Natalie loiters in the corner
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- Pump hose runs over to the pump Nick sets up on The Boss
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- As the last few things are finished, the number of waiters increases
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- Ballast
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- Dropping Ballast (BLOG TITLE!!!)
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- Bucket of used ballast
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- Photosensor, so CSBF can tell when there’s sun on their panels
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- Mark talks to Laura while checking the outer frame balance
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- This picture of Barth is not particularly notable, except that is was taken “from the hip”—a skill I’ve been practicing while bored
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- Matt
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- Elio and Matt. Watching the action as The Boss backs up slightly
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- Derek drives
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- Hanging. As we were most of the day
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- Beware of Cat!!
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- Cart of delightful rigging goodies
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- While we wait, Enzo rides the pump truck
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- Mat demonstrates his mad skillz. He is shockingly good at this
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- As the wait wears on, Nick continues to work hard
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- Ezno practices junior meteorology, with his home made piball
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- Still hanging. We scrub shortly afterwards
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- Coming back inside, with Enzo’s piball
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