Crate Expectations

I write tonight from the Crate. I am currently on the midnight balloon launch shift, meaning I'm handling the 11:15pm and 2:15am launches (18Z and 21Z for those of you playing along in ATS). We are on the brink of beginning what should be our shift schedule for the remainder of our stay here: 27 hours off, 9 hours on. There are 8 launches every day, so between the four of us we will cycle through the morning, afternoon, and midnight shifts, the last shift only covering two launches because of its awkward timing.

Ze' workstation

We are hoping to put together a somewhat time-lapsey video of the entire balloon launch process so I will spare you the specifics for now, but it involves roughly 10 minutes of instrumentation preparation, 5 minutes of balloon inflation, 60 minutes of computer data scrutinization, and 105 minutes of relaxation. However, the last five minutes of computer stuff comes about two hours after the launch time, when we need to terminate the sounding data receiver and log its final stats and info. Thus our shifts usually still require close to a full three hours for every balloon. I have been using this temporal gap to read Infinite Jest (Dave), study Scrabble alphagrams and hooks (Carrie, Shari, Phyllis, Dave, Carol, et al.), run/swim (Gus), drink coffee (Lance), and use Facebook (Eric Michael). And tonight I'm hoping to start streaming radio of the Diamondbacks/Brewers game at 3am before my shift ends -- sidebar: it's odd watching live American sports over breakfast in the mess hall.

Today was another great day away from work too. We are all starting to shred it at windsurfing, not just James tearing up and down the beach while Adam and I spin in circles (mostly just me). Looking forward to honing even more tomorrow and/or Sunday. Horsetooth Reservoir next summer anybody? We also went to the actual Indian Ocean for the first time (instead of the lagoon) and checked out a nifty off-road bike trail through palm fronds and gravitationally-conquered coconuts. Chalk up another day for the old-age happy memory bank.

-Gavin

The Indian Ocean in all its horizontal glory