{"id":4200,"date":"2010-12-15T00:06:27","date_gmt":"2010-12-15T04:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/galadriel.astro.utoronto.ca\/ballast\/?p=4200"},"modified":"2010-12-15T00:06:27","modified_gmt":"2010-12-15T04:06:27","slug":"mini-launch-compatible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?p=4200","title":{"rendered":"Mini-Launch, Compatible"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning was the first real balloon launch of the season! (And the first launch since the Australia “Mishap”<\/a>, also available in several forms on youtube<\/a>.) BARREL is a small payload that requires only a “hand launch” rather that requiring the large launch vehicle (aka The Boss). Still, a launch is a launch, and launches are exciting—especially if it’s your payload, or you’ve never seen one before.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, Joseph rounded up the riggers to take BLAST out to the pad so he could test the CSBF GPS system. (I hope you’ll forgive me if I post a few pictures very similar to last time.<\/a>) And since the weather continued to look good, we decided to stay outside and conduct the official “Compatibility” test. In this test BLAST and CSBF each confirm that the other doesn’t break its systems. Compatibility is another of the fabled portents said to precede balloon launches.<\/p>\n\n\t\t