Low-Altitude Science Surveys 13 & 14

another low-alt KerBalloon contract signed but due to part shortages only 1 mission can be carried out at at time currently. Next one 5/25

Drew has chastised Mortimer for being overly stingy - the part we are short on is of course the most expensive, the main control unit (MCU)

crummy weather still here & all thruout the region thx to asteroid passage. Airship travel taking another major hit to its schedule, delaying some of our shipments

we've heard of one airship traveling from Sheltered Rock to Kravass that got blown so far off course it had to turn back or run out of fuel!

where is the sun? You're looking at it. At least it's been dry for a while, but seas are still rough & high winds are still a worry today

we will continue to monitor conditions outside thruout the day but as of now the Kerballoon teams are standing down from mission readiness

crews getting ready for 2 KerBalloon deployments today: bit.ly/Gilmons_Descent & bit.ly/Site_VNJ-4 are close enough to do together

loaded up in our boat, Spc Bob & a small crew will launch both balloons from the bay north of KSC - they will be recovered over land by UTVs

15.5km to the north Bob has informed us he's ready to launch the first balloon, Flight Director Lanalye has given him the GO to launch

first balloon is away and Tracking Station reports AOS on dish #1. Bob & crew prepping the second balloon for launch in the next few minutes

second balloon is away, dish #2 atop the Tracking Station roof has tlm signal. Bob's heading back in to join the UTV team departing later

nominal ascent for first balloon to 16.5km ASL max altitude, envelope failed due to falling external pressure. Chutes armed, balloon #2 next

second balloon has popped on schedule also at 16.5km, chutes armed - first probe has deployed chutes successfully & is in controlled descent

both probes are descending @ nominal rates, locator beacons have activated. We have an airship moving in to determine locations for UTV team

airship is in position over general area of the probes, will remain on station to provide comm relay for UTV team deploying at 3rd sunrise

Bill. Bob & KerBalloon crew are rolling out to recover the two probes that landed on the foothills of the Western Mountains earlier today

UTVs are in the general location defined by the airship & have spread out to home in on 1st probe's beacon, using all 3 UTVs to triangulate

first payload has been located & recovery is underway. After it is partially disassembled & mounted on a UTV roof search for 2nd will begin

2nd payload appears to be very high up somewhere on a steep slope. UTV team is trying to determine if they can access it with their vehicles

UTVs are heading back to KSC after determining they can't get to the 2nd payload. We'll call in a search & rescue airship tomorrow to get it

Bill has been picked up by the SAR airship to guide them to the general location of yesterday's KB unit, somewhere up on these slopes

it's getting dark & Lymun has called off the search :/ Better news tho is that Bill returned to KSC earlier with the payload from yesterday

Deuce is complete! That and more details about today's bizarre KB mission in our ops summary: bit.ly/OpsSummary6-5-… enjoy the weekend, all