Lynch Rocket Laboratory - Dartmouth College

Tonight was the first night of our available launch window. There was some auroral activity, but it was snowing, which rather gets in the way of aurora viewing... In order to launch the rocket, we need four things to converge at once: (1) good aurora, (2) good weather, (3) a good rocket, and (4) a safe trajectory. Item (4), a safe trajectory, means that there are no Medivac planes in our airspace, no unusual crowds of people near the launch facility, and that road traffic (not that there's a lot of it) has been stopped near the range. Item (3), a good rocket, is what we've been working so hard on for the past weeks and months. The practice count on Friday, the "vertical checks" tonight (checks of the payload and range that mimic the actual countdown) before the window opened, and another, extra "vertical check" during the window tonight (in the snowstorm) have brought us to the point of feeling confident that if items (1) and (2) come together, we are ready to go.

However, we need (2), the weather, to improve: we hope that if not by Monday night at least by Tuesday this low pressure area will go away. And then, we need (1), the good aurora! If you look at the "conde-gram" from yesterday's update you can see that in a few more days we should have an increase in the auroral activity, based on the solar activity last month.

Tonight, however, we were concentrating on item (3). The vertical check is part of a 3-hour procedure that precedes the window opening each night. "Station checks" at T-3hrs begin a choreographed procedure including balloon and test rocket launches to monitor high-altitude winds, vertical checks of the payload and telemetry systems, and verification of all communications links. It also includes a practice of bringing the count all the way down to T0, to make sure that when the real aurora comes, we are ready for it. With people spread out all over the range, at radar, the blockhouse, telemetry, and science, the practice counts need to be a carefully scripted affair. Communications over the range intercom are conducted by our "operations manager", Kathe Rich, and each group has a designated person to speak into the intercom. Even when we are just doing practices, it is exciting to approach T0.

This picture shows the area around the science center at the top of the hill, which was severely scarred by fire a few months ago. The picture is of the burned remains of tall pine trees, even though they the picture makes them appear to be much smaller, like grass. The science center was nestled in trees before, and now it appears much more open and has an odd appearance as you drive up the hill.