A not-so-short first day of the Extended Phase update
The
first day of the extended phase was a busy one. The plane took off with
the team shortly before 11am, in -44C conditions and under a perfectly
clear sky. After Matt checked SAFIRE and we grabbed some lunch, we
headed up to PEARL. The first order of the day was checking the
operational UV-VIS instruments, which were all ticking over nicely. I
then started PARIS and the Bruker - only to find the Bruker detector
selector motor was completely jammed up again. This wasn't bad, as
Gregor (from Bruker) had just sent me a firmware update intended to
overcome this problem by making the motor go slower and with more
power. I installed that, and it worked! I was really pleased, and got
the Bruker happily measuring.
Next on my list was an interview with Kirsten Murphy for the "Ends of
the Earth" show on Yellowknife radio station CKLB. This was a
pre-recorded interview that will be played on March 30th, in
conjunction with a phone-in session where kids can ring up and ask me
questions about Eureka and my research. Kirsten was great, and enjoyed
hearing about our research. I am already looking forward to the second
part of the show!
Next on my list was getting the PEARL-GBS functioning again. Cristen
had been up all night, reformatting the PEARL-GBS computer, so I was
armed with the computer and instructions. After only a few minor
glitches, it was clicking away happily. I really hope it stays that way
:-)
By this time, the day was running out so I completed all the data
backups, shut down the FTS's and Matt and I headed back to the station
for dinner and the final ACE ozonesonde launch. Mike and Kelly did a
perfect Raven launch, and it reached a record 5.0 hPa.