Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Settling into a routine....

I knew I wouldn't be very good at posting to a blog. We've been pretty busy the last few days, so haven't had much time for it. I expect things will slow down once we have a few payloads ready to launch!

Yesterday, we had a brief period of decent weather, so Max and David were able to get outside to test all the solar panels. Here is Max checking out one of our payloads, and David in the background load testing the batteries for our termination system (above).

We work on the mezzanine of a high bay and have a nice view down to the NASA Superpressure balloon (SPB) payload. The red thing in the huge box (left) is their balloon! Well, the balloon isn't red - that's just a protective plastic sleeve.

The days seem a bit long so far - 24 hours of sunlight really does mess up your schedule. I don't even wear a watch at home because I have a pretty good sense of time. Here, I am totally screwed up. Yesterday, I checked to see if it was time for lunch and it was only 9:30 AM! We work seven days a week with the same schedule every day, so it is also hard to keep track of what day it is - especially when it is a different day than it is back home! Friday is my assigned laundry day, so I guess that should help me keep track. But, we're settling in and making good progress.

Ever wonder what a port-a-potty looks like in Antarctica? Here is a picture of one of ours (the thing that looks like a blue icebox). Ok, so they did actually install a flush-toilet out at our worksite this year. But, I don't really mind the port-a-potty. There's no line!