<\/a>Ready to roll out <\/div>
Let the excitement begin!<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Derek connects us to The Boss <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>And connects electronics for the balloon\/parachute <\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>SPIDER and The Boss <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>SPIDER in the sun <\/div>
Which is cool looking on mylar\/solar panels, slightly concerning on the telescopes<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Shiny shimmering solar stuff <\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Very important hose <\/div>
Connecting to a pump that gets moved to The Boss<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>CSBF solar panels and yellow safety stand <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>The Boss <\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>SPIDER and The Boss, plus parachute bucket <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Cynthia is on Team Pump <\/div>
On The Boss<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Fully suspended <\/div>
And off the porch<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Driving around <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>SPIDER sits in the snow <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Resting in an open patch of snow <\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Just hangin' <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Portrait time: Jamil <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Jeff <\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Sasha <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Anne <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Portrait time: SPIDER alone <\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Jon runs around <\/div>
To photograph an LC-130 as it flies past<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Bill <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>Nat <\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
<\/a>
<\/a>
<\/a>
<\/a>
<\/a>![Examining the "ice fog" \u2022 <a style="font-size:0.8em;" href="http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/27717602@N03\/16175912302\/" target="_blank">View on Flickr<\/a>](https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7535\/16175912302_ef0678dae9_m.jpg "Examining the \\"ice fog\\"")
<\/a>![\"Nat\"](\"https:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7512\/15989352580_28840e14a4_n.jpg\")
With other launches complete, and SPIDER all finished, we’re ready to get together with The Boss for our official pre-flight compatibility check. I get excited because this is the first time I see SPIDER outside (having missed other outings while on night shift). Because this process involves SPIDER sitting outside for a while on a beautiful day, we take lots of photos—including portraits with out soon-to-depart telescope. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6476"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6476"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6478,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6476\/revisions\/6478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}