[All] ESPO Updates from the field: DCOTSS

Fri Jun 18 17:44:09 PDT 2021

Hello All!

On Monday June 14th, the DCOTSS team finished its 2nd Test Flight.  Bernie departed at noon that day to head home to Philadelphia to be with her family.  It was unplanned, but in true ESPO fashion, Katie stepped up to the plate and drove down to Palmdale with barely two days’ notice.  Willing to join us for the peak heat of this trip (111 Fahrenheit, 116 when I got into my car, yeesh) and the chill of the lab, both heat stroke and frost bite are possible hazards here at Building 703, her addition was most welcome, allowing us to maintain our Foreign National Escort numbers and the ER-2 team was thrilled to see her.
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Today, it’s quiet.  So quiet that from halfway across the lab, I can hear Tchaikovsky quietly playing out of Katie Smith’s (AWAS) phone, it grows louder as more teams finish packing and leave.  It’s a startling contrast when I think of the activity from the last few days. The hum of pumps has been replaced by the whisper of boxes whisking across the floor, ready to be staged in the hangar.  Earlier this week, teams were chattering together, determining who gets access to the nose first and how long they will need. Today the chatter has turned inward, teammates whisper to each other, determining the best routes from Palmdale to Salina and looking ahead.

The focus yesterday was the Science Flight.  Our first one of the mission, and a great test for our Flight Forecasting Team.  Upon reviewing the initial plan laid out for the flight, the pilots determined that they did not have enough time to work through the permissions they would need to fly off the coast of Baja California.  Rei Ueyama was informed at roughly 1900 the night before.  She quickly looped Leslie Lait, the scheduled planner for this flight, into the conversation, by 0400 the new plan was set, the flight would remain over land cutting its way through Arizona and New Mexico (the majority of it flying over the Gadsden Purchase, is this important, no, but it’s a fun factoid). The pilots are planning to update their slides for their ORR next Tuesday to include potential over water flights. Overall, the 1st Science Flight was a great success. There was good communication between the instrument teams and pilot, and everything seemed to be running smoothly which bodes well for Salina.
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The focus today is preparing-- preparing for the transit flight, preparing shipments to Salina, preparing for last minute travel-- preparing for Salina.  Jason St. Clair (Café/CANOE) finished packing yesterday but has been kind enough to stay behind and help with Foreign National Escorting duties, alleviating some of the strain, while the teams hurry in and out of the hangar. The scientists and engineers are pleased with the overall data and results of the flight, they are not pleased with the performance of their instruments, so tinkering, is of course, on the agenda, alongside the packing.

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All the shipments are ready to go for Sommer when she comes to AFRC in two weeks and hopefully our fancy peel and stick labels will be helpful! Everyone was saying how strange it feels today to be packing up after over a month in Palmdale. Even with COVID still lingering, everyone is in good spirits and excited for the next stage of the mission. Looking forward to rejoining the team in Salina!

Have a great weekend everyone!

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