High-Altitude Science Survey 42

Bill & Bob lead a column of UTVs out towards bit.ly/Zone_MOI65, traveling much like in this photo, with the vehicles carrying the balloon, extra fuel and supplies in the rear so the lead "pathfinder" vehicle encounters any bad terrain first

airship coming on station to provide comm relay as UTVs enter Highlands & pass behind terrain. Why not use a Deuce? It could stay aloft as long as needed for this mission but if any inflight emergency came up after dark it would not be able to return and land safely at KSC

slowed by terrain and then by fading light UTVs have made it to the release site after 104km of traversal, will setup over this night cycle to be ready at 3rd sunrise and hope for clear skies to reduce the chances of icing during ascent into the upper atmosphere

sunrise out in the Highlands and KB team reports persistent cloud cover. Contract stipulates release today so eventually they will have to let it go but do have some time to wait for skies to clear

no change to weather, no choice but to let the balloon begin its ascent to 24.9km so it can reach it and return before full darkness sets in. Teams are piling back into the UTVs to track and follow for recovery

clearing the mountains to the west at 6km ASL we have acquired telemetry signal from the balloon from the tracking dish atop the VAB. We will provide redundant tracking for the ground team as they work to keep pace over the rough terrain

we have envelope failure short of max altitude, just shy of 22.8km. UTVs report they are not far from where the balloon should parachute down. After collecting the payload they will return to KSC over the following day cycle

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!

UTVs have finally rolled back into KSC after a long and exhausting journey but happily were able to collect the payload intact to deliver to the science labs for analysis and handing over data to Probodobodyne next week