Waiting on the rocket

Well the rocket is having some electronics problems, and they have to send in some parts from the US. We are in waiting mode at the moment. We did not even go up to the observatory yesterday. It was snowing, and we decided we could look at snowflakes from here in town. Here is another picture of town. I was looking over at the one of the old mines, and the town lights are in the background.

Arriving at the observatory

We drive most of the way to the Kjell Henriksen Observatory outside of Longyearbyen in a rental car. We have to park the car by a mine, and then take the belt-wagon up the hill to get to the observatory. The ride is fun--different, but fun.

It is snowing now, so we spent most of the time working in the observatory getting all of our communications set up. Tomorrow I will take the camera up with me and get a picture from the observatory. Photo by Philip Fernandes.

Arrived in Svalbard

I am currently in Svalbard Norway, an island in the Spitzbergen Archipelago. We are up here getting ready to launch a NASA sounding rocket. This view is looking across the valley towards the hills on the far side. This is a 2 second exposure; it is pretty dark unless your eyes are dark adapted. The lights on the right side of the picture are from a coal mine. Our observatory is up the hill from this mine. I am going there for the first time later today, so I will report in on what I find in the next post.

Active again in Norway

I am up in Norway, getting ready to support a NASA sounding rocket launch. Our group at the Air Force Academy made an instrument that is flying on the Renu rocket. You can look here to get a little background on the rocket. I am traveling to Svalbard Island, and when I get there I will post more about our effort.