[All] ORACLES São Tomé update #5

[Luna, Bernadette (ARC-SGG)]

Dear ESPO,

Last I wrote I was expecting PRF06Y17 to be completed. It began from Ascension with the intent to return to São Tomé. The same fire sensor that alerted after the Barbados takeoff, alerted again. Pilots chose to return to Ascension. That was Saturday, August 19 – PRF07Y17; science data was collected for 3 hours. The crew spent that day (and the next) troubleshooting to identify the problem. They had to find a mega-ohmmeter (a ‘Megger’) to diagnose the problem and the science team connected with their British and DOE colleagues already on Ascension to find two – an impressive bit of networking we watched through WhatsApp. Initial talk was to return with no science flyers (a ‘maintenance ferry’), but in the end, with pilot support and management approval, the P3 returned to São Tomé with all on board.

Tuesday was declared a hard down day to allow all to decompress, and because Dan was returning with the much-awaited repair parts in his carryon luggage Tuesday evening. Most of the group took part in a team building outing on Tuesday. Wednesday was for repairs and instrument access, and Thursday flights resumed. We flew again yesterday, Saturday, flight PRF09Y17.

We are looking at back-to-back flights Monday and Tuesday; and last flight Thursday August 31. Sommer joins us on Tuesday to lead the packing effort. ORACLES received approval for a one-day extension; P-3 will now depart September 2. In our original plan we hoped to fly 14 flights (14th was really contingency) and visit Ascension twice. It now appears we will fly 12 flights and we visited Ascension once. Not bad, given our challenges.

Team members are tired but knowing they’ve flown 9 flights gives them energy.  Attaching some pictures again, mostly people.

Probably one more update before the last departures. Jhony left last night, after a very productive deployment. I am so grateful for his (and my whole ESPO ORACLES team’s) ingenuity and effort.

Until next week,

Bernie
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