Another Launch Coming

Things have been busy recently, keeping track of where our payload is and how it is doing.  We successfully launched on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 10:44am local time.  It's been fun watching our payload and seeing where it's going.  For more info on all that stuff, check out the blog I've been updating recently for BARREL.  It's at: http://2010mcmurdo.blogspot.com/

And, we'll be launching our second balloon in just a few hours (if all goes to plan and the surface weather cooperates).  Wish us luck!  You can watch online, too, if you go to http://www.csbf.nasa.gov/antarctica/ice1011.htm and click on Real Time Video.

Also, there's another balloon launch happening before ours.  It's a HUGE balloon, roughly 40 million cubic feet, compared to our measly 300,000 cubic feet.  For those who are mathematically challenged, that's over 100 times larger than our balloon!  You'll be able to watch that live, as well.  No guarantee on how good the video is, though, or even if the camera is aimed correctly at the launch site.  This huge balloon is scheduled to launch between 5-7am local time, which is 11am-1pm EST on Friday, December 17.  As soon as the big balloon is launched, we'll be next in line, and it'll be an hour or two before we'll be ready.  And of course, this is ballooning, so the weather could change at the last minute and everything could be cancelled or delayed.

Brett

2010-12-18 12:45am (NZDT)