Launching a Weather Balloon
Last night I had the opportunity to stay up and launch the 12Z weather balloon out of McMurdo. The observer, Carol, was nice enough to allow me to do the actual launch. Luckily for me, it was not too windy outside. As you can see, the weather balloon is quite large and she mentioned that once the winds get up to about 30 knots, the launcher will feel a little like Mary Poppins. Unfortunately for my balloon, the GPS went out on it's ascent and another balloon had to be launched. Fortunately for Matthew, it meant that he got a chance to launch one as well.
Last night I had the opportunity to stay up and launch the 12Z weather balloon out of McMurdo. The observer, Carol, was nice enough to allow me to do the actual launch. Luckily for me, it was not too windy outside. As you can see, the weather balloon is quite large and she mentioned that once the winds get up to about 30 knots, the launcher will feel a little like Mary Poppins. Unfortunately for my balloon, the GPS went out on it's ascent and another balloon had to be launched. Fortunately for Matthew, it meant that he got a chance to launch one as well.
Man, you Antarcticans are serious battery-building, balloon-launching, apparatus-assembling/dissembling, snowmobile-driving, snow-camping Jacks-of-all-trades...
ReplyDeleteehh - we do what we can. Notice it says Jack-of-all-traders, the rest should read Master-of-none... ;o)
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa, I just got caught up on all your adventures! It sounds like it's been pretty interesting! The icebreaker would be cool to see, and that view of the volcano is incredible.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, I was listening to car talk from last week on my run this morning and it was a replay of an old episode, but there was a caller (John) from McMurdo talking about how bumpy the ride in the Delta was and if they should lower the tire pressure. I'm guessing this was from a long time ago but it was funny to hear someone calling in from Antaarctica.
Anyway, I hope you're having fun and get to take some trips further afield, and if you see my parents wandering on the ice, tell them to get back on the boat!
Mike
Hey Mike,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you! Where are your parents going again? Will they be at McMurdo? There are a few ships coming in soon. That is so funny about car talk. I definitely understand that guy's frustration with the bumpy ride. Those Deltas can be brutal.
How's the tele? I think that Tom and I both cannot wait to get back and ski.
Melis