Last Balloon Launch

Only a couple days left on the ice. We were not able to launch a balloon on Sunday but we decided to go for it on Monday morning. It was another rubber balloon. These are a little different than our big plastic ones. We are able to fill these inside and then just walk the balloon out and let go. These really sucked at first but I think we have it down now. I took a couple pictures so you could see the difference.

Leslie is holding the balloon as it fills with helium.
After we fill the balloon, we tie it off and add the ozonesonde. Mahesh is holding it while we finish getting it ready.
Then we open the door and take it to the launch site.
Here we are just before we let it go. We waited for a Delta to pass by but he decided to stop and take a few pictures himself. It was a nice photo shoot then we let it go.
This one was named Sirius (Black) Sonde and he did very well. We filled it perfectly again and he made it to 8 millibars, which is just what we want. I went up to Building 70 and finished my book. It was a very successful launch. The data wasn't great because we were on the edge of the vortex, which isn't what we want but oh well.

Didn't do anything cool the rest of the day. Leslie and I watched a movie, The Hunting Party, it was an excellent movie. Crazy but really good. Today, we started off the day by packing up a bunch of stuff in the lab. We have to sort it out whether it is going home or being stored here and where. Takes some time. Our lab looks pretty sad now, boxes and packing stuff everywhere. Guess the adventure has to end sometime. Other than that, I'm trying to write and thinking about my vacation in New Zealand.

I will leave you with a little artwork of Leslie's. Something I rather enjoy. Cheers!