Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2002 21:49:38 -0400 From: Kimberly Strong To: MANTRA email list Subject: MANTRA 2002 - Friday, August 30 Status MANTRA 2002 - Friday, August 30 Status Greetings from Vanscoy, We had a long and frustrating day yesterday which ended without a launch. After calling off preparations at 10:30 PM for the 2 AM launch due to thunderstorms, SIL and the science team remained on call for a possible 2 AM pickup to do a sunrise launch. However, conditions did not improve and we cancelled at 1:30 AM. Today is very windy and the forecast is poor for tonight and through the weekend. As most people here have flights booked for Saturday, we have decided to stand down for a few days, and return on Monday evening for a possible launch at 2 AM Tuesday, again depending on weather conditions. The instruments remain on the payload and it is ready to go. We have taken advantage of the extra time to do the following today: - full-up RFI test - went very well - levelling of payload with new cables - successfully tested new MSC FTS sensor monitoring system - completed and successfully tested cabling and switching to allow MSC FTS to share DU FTS - modified MSC FTS to allow short scans during flight to check azimuth - tested MSC FTS command formats - completed ozonesonde downlink to pointing system - worked on pointing system software, including automated scheduler Media coverage today: - the Weather Channel visited this morning and interviewed Tom. - another article in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. All for now. Kim MANTRA Home Page: http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/MANTRA/ MANTRA 2002: http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/MANTRA/mantra_2002.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Kimberly Strong, Associate Professor Department of Physics, University of Toronto Room MP 710A, 60 St. George Street Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A7, Canada Telephone: (416) 946-3217, Fax: (416) 978-8905 Email: strong@atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/ http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/people/strong/strong.html ----------------------------------------------------------------