Deuce Science Flight 5

rain and high winds have kept Jeb & Val grounded. Doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon so they are standing down from flight readiness and will try again next day cycle

arriving back in Umbarg, the KerBalloon team were completely successful this time out, having to deal with only moderate waters and recovering their payload. Genesis team however was informed the weather out east they sailed through on the way home is very rough

Deuce mission is a Go for this day cycle, Jeb & Val are finishing up preflight. Above the cockpit you can see mounted the booster camera that will get to undergo some relatively light aerodynamic stress testing while the aircraft is in flight

taxiing out, crosswinds are too strong to use Rwy09/27 so Val is heading for the lesser-used and oft-forgotten Rwy01/19. As the wind is from the north, she'll be lining up at Runway 01, which faces 10° and allows for takeoff more into a headwind for better lift

no issues on departure, Val is now turning in course for bit.ly/Area_B-1F following Jeb's directions as he plots their course. Looking back from the rear-facing booster camera saw this while climbing out - look closely & you can just make out the runway threshold markers

flight nominal, Jeb has signed off as they near the horizon, climbing through 5.5km so staying above it a bit longer than previous flights heading east. ~300km to their target so we expect to hear from them again in no more than 2 hours from now

we've been hailed by Val as Jeb pilots them back from a successful overflight of their observation area. Winds remain strong out of the north so they will setup for a Rwy01 landing - turf runways can indeed be used for both takeoff and landing

still descending, Jeb is making a crosswind pass over the runway to let Val get eyes on for reference - one of the benefits to using the dirt runway for landing is that it is way more visible to approach straight-in from farther out

satisfied she knows where the runway is, Jeb is executing a left-turn traffic pattern while Val keeps the runway visible out her window to help guide him down and setup for final approach - taking caution they don't swing too wide over the higher terrain to the southwest

smooth landing and rollout, aircraft is taxiing back to park out on the tarmac in front of the HAB. Jeb & Val will be debriefed after lunch while ground crew examines the camera to ensure it stayed mounted properly throughout the flight

bit.ly/OpSummary5-21-… will get you caught up on anything you may have missed this week, as well as providing additional information. Everyone enjoy the weekend - launch next week!