[All] IMPACTS Wallops Update

Wed Jan 22 07:13:40 PST 2020

Hi Everyone,
[Apologies for the long summary…]

Our first year of the IMPACTS Mission started off on the right foot. Vidal and I arrived at Wallops on January 6th and we were happy to find the offices and desks were labeled with IMPACTS branded signage. The printers were already set-up, trash cans were scavenged from other parts of the building, and we were even given laminated cheat sheets with important phone numbers. Everything looked official. We added a few touches here and there but nothing major was needed besides a large display to be used by the forecasting team.

Unfortunately, the networking equipment arrived later than we would have liked but Alex and Don were able to get cranking shortly after. We had a last-minute request from UND to setup a hardwire access point on our ESPO network and Alex and Don were able to accommodate the team.

The instrument teams and pilots started arriving on January 8-9th and everyone seemed excited to get going and prepare for the test flight on Sunday January 12th. Unfortunately, we were only able to have one test flight due to an aircraft fuel leak, which was luckily fixed in time for our first science flight on Saturday January 18th. We also had a Media Day where several local newscasters and reporters came to learn about IMPACTS, WFF, and NASA. Everyone was excited to be there and some folks listened to our Daily Briefing. Also on Jan 12, we started our Daily Briefings, which keep everyone on track and has been helpful in catching last minute items.

The week leading up to the science flight was time well spent in the hangar. Some of the cloud probes experienced head-scratching wiring issues that did not get resolved even after the flight.

However, conditions couldn’t have been better for our first flight. It even lightly snowed on my way to Wallops from Chincoteague. I hope it bodes well for a snowy February! Everything looked great from a timing perspective. The ER-2 was on target to sync up with the P-3 at the start of the first leg of the bowtie pattern above Upstate New York when Cory Bartholomew (pilot) radioed to Jan Nystrom (ER-2/P-3 Communication Liaison) that he received a hydraulic leak warning and had to head back to Hunter immediately. You could see everyone in the Ops Center was visibly (and audibly) bummed by the news, especially since MTS showed that the conversion point was perfectly timed. Cory made it back safely to Hunter and the ER-2 Team quickly figured out what caused the warning message and fixed the issue

From the P-3 standpoint the team was happy with the results. Walter Klein (ATC Liaison) was able to coordinate clear passage through the New York and Boston corridor and it was pretty obvious on FlightAware that a path had been cleared specifically for our P-3. This was a first for a research team and I think it will set the standard for the next group of scientists trying to operate in this busy airspace. The pilots and Mike Poellet (Flight Mission Scientist) communicated well with the Mission Scientists on the ground to make sure the P-3 hit the elevation targets and bow tie coordinates. One lesson learned was to always carry a headlamp with a red light for night flights.

Between hangar time and preparing for the flights we exhausted our dining options on the island: Chatty’s, Don’s, Bill’s, Ocean Deli, and Steamers. We also celebrated Vidal’s birthday the first week we were at Wallops and learned that candy always boosts morale. Bingo night and trivia were also fun and some of the instrument team members even won Bingo. We also won First Place on trivia night!

Starting on January 19th, I am now supporting Mission Operations from Hunter. Quincy has been getting me up to speed with everything here, and I’m looking forward to my first ER-2 science flight and possible ride in the chase car.

Cheers,
Katie

Katie Stern
Deputy Project Manager - Earth Science Project Office
NASA Ames Research Center
MS 232-22
Moffett Field, CA 94035

Cell: 650-440-8749
Work: 650-604-5965
Email: Kathryn.Stern at nasa.gov

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