Monday was Super-TIGER’s first roll-out for a launch attempt. Somehow, Monday also managed to be their launch day.
When the usual morning bus arrived at around 8:00, they had already been out for many hours. BLAST-Pol had been dropped of at the dance floor to make way for TIGER to exit our shared highbay. And TIGER was out on the launch pad with the flight train laid out and the balloon ready to open. But there was too much fog to see anything.
Once the fog had cleared, inflation was well underway (though it takes a couple hours). Slowly, members of the BLAST-Pol, Super-TIGER, and EBEX teams trickled out to the spectator area. Launches are always exciting, if maybe a little too exciting when it’s your payload on the line.
Start of the day
BLAST on the dance floor, waiting in the fog for the launch
Super-cool TIGER hat
With sun glasses
Laura comes outside
To watch launch preparations
Person for scale
Serious scale
Inflation underway
Super-TIGER team
With payload and balloon
Super-TIGER team
Without payload and balloon
Time-lapse machine
Tripod, phone, mitten, hand warmer, tape. Constructed by a scientist
Scott
More inflation
This takes a while
Enzo poses
Anne prepares to fly a piball
"Pilot balloon"
Piball released
Done evey 30 minutes in preparation for launch
Piball tracking
Provides profile of wind vs altitude
The whole scene
With BLAST in the middle, and spectators and launch operations on either side
Barth
With camera and Christmas decoration
Tracks
Peanut gallery
Inflation finished
Fill tubes dangling. Awaiting final confirmation to launch
Balloon release
Balloon mushroomification
As it surges upwards after release
Rising balloon
Driving to directly under the balloon
Directly under the balloon
LAUNCH!
Away she goes
Balloon
Payload
Balloon and payload
A little later
Slowly receding
Tristan goes for a ride
Out to BLAST for some quick tests while we're still outside
And we come back inside
To an emptier highbay
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