We’re not in Kansas anymore….
But we were briefly today!
While in Oklahoma we are hoping to launch two balloons each day because we will have launching and tracking help from some of the SGP ARM technicians who have worked with us on previous visits. But since today was Sunday, we kept it simple with a single launch just over the border in Hunnewell, Kansas.
While scouting for locations yesterday, Jack and Bianca met Jason, one of the owners of Strickland Road Service & Towing, which is a roadside assistance company for everything from cars to heavy-duty trucks.
Loading helium into the vehicle
Sonja, Bianca, and Jack pose with guest launcher, Owen.
He very kindly agreed to let us use part of their yard for our launch today, and he even provided us with a guest launcher (see video)! We seized the opportunity to train and inspire the next generation of meteorologists, starting with 4-year old Owen.
Ready for inflate the balloon inside the launch tube
On the road, tracking the balloon.
The launch itself went flawlessly, though we had an earlier descent than planned. Where the payload was drifting down, we had a lot of options for bad places to land – windmills, a lake, trees, and large power lines – but luckily it just came down in a bare field that was easily accessible from a small road. Phew!
