Hello who ever you are, (no really I have no idea who reads this)
So this morning they launched a Path Finder to test if the float winds have set up, unfortunately I wondered outside just after they released it so I didn’t get the actually launch but got to watch it drift up into there sky. There is always something breath taking about watching a balloon go up, well in that I get thing knot in my stomach going “dear god, I’m going to attach years to something like that, and I have as little control over where it floats as I do over that little path finder.” So yeah, um, breath taking.
In other news
Tristan: Ebex is so big, you just would believe how big Ebex is!
Some one humoring me: How big is it
Tristan: Its so big they had to dig a hole, so that when they transfer it from the crane to the boss, they can lower it down far enough to get sufficient clearance for the boss to come in under the crane boom and pick it up….
Yes I know I can’t tell jokes, but I do love me a good hole! Also the day was warm enough that I hung out watching for 20 minutes while the dug it. I’m still not sure if snow is ideal for digging or really annoying, or a bit of both. Oh look pictures, I’ll be quite now.
Apologies! Due to some plugin incompatilbilities, Tristan’s photos can no longer be viewed here. Please click here to view on flickr.
Hmm, maybe I should go to sleep…
-Tristan
p.s. Steve I really really hope you weren’t trying to keep this thing profesional or anything crazy like that.
Hi All,
I am a teacher at Merion Elementary School and would like my students to check the blog occasionally. I will give them background on the mission and we will talk about it at our ‘Science Friday’ lunch sometime this month. If there is any way you can give us very basic info, and let us know the anticipated launch date, that would be great. I viewed the pics of the Path Finder and am thinking that this is a prelude to the actual BLAST launch re: winds, etc.
Any clarification in the simplest of terms would be great. Thanks so much! Penny (Hello to Dr. Devlin from Merion)
Hi Penny,
Information about BLASTPol can be obtained from the main website: http://blastexperiment.info/ See especially the tabs on Science, Instrument, and maybe BLAST the Movie—a documentary made in 2009 about our predecessor. Unfortunately, I don’t know if all of this is “very basic”.
The path finder is indeed a test of the stratospheric winds, to ensure that the circum-polar vortex has started for the year, and that payloads won’t drift out to sea.
We are third (last) in the launch queue this year, because we want to launch as late as possible. We require it to be after around the 20th of December and the last opportunities of the season will be around mid-January. That’s all we know for now.
We have probably a dozen friends checking your blog on a regular basis so keep up the good work.