Normally it would be a challenge to get me out of bed at 4:45 am. But not on this day -- today we were ready to launch our rocket!
Everyone assembled at the missile range at 6:15 am. This included the FOXSI team, the NSROC team -- some from Virginia and some from White Sands --who had built our rocket systems and managed the flight, engineers from the local university who provide telemetry, and Navy representatives, providing range and safety support. Most of these team members would stay in the block house during the flight. This is a sturdy building about a quarter mile from the launch rail where mission control takes place. With 10-foot-thick walls and even thicker ceilings, this bunker is well insulated from the fiery blast about to take place.
But most of the FOXSI team would move to a building a couple miles away where data is received and sent during the flight. From here, we can watch the data streaming in real time using software that we had written and send uplink commands to the experiment. The best thing about this building is that it's far enough away that you can actually watch the launch outside! (Not the case for the block house.)
The reason for arriving so early was that there were two more sequence tests to get through -- one horizontal (with the launch rail lying on its side on the ground) and one vertical (launch rail up, ready to launch). After the launch rail "went vertical,", the rocket motors were armed (i.e. ready to fire). After this, nobody is allowed to the rail except in case of emergency.
The other reason for getting an early start is that a few hours before the launch roadblocks went up all around the base. The main road, highway 70, which leads from Las Cruces to Alamogordo and cuts through White Sands, was blocked. The White Sands National Monument was closed for the morning. Roads to the uprange section of the missile range were cut off. All this was to make sure that FOXSI could not hurt anybody when it launched or when it landed!
The sequence tests were passed without incident. During each of these tests, as before, we practiced the countdown and the commands we would send during the flight. For the last time, we ran through scenarios for decision-making during the observation. In the downtime between tests, we checked solar activity, took some team photos, ate a lot of food, and watched videos of previous launches. The mood was excitedly nervous, but calm.
Twenty minutes before the flight a final check-in was called. We put on our headsets in order to communicate with the rest of the team, got our software up and running, and got ready for the real deal.
Ten minutes before the flight the countdown began. At this point we filled out a checklist of various temperatures, voltages, and tests to make sure that our experiment was working and ready. If any of these checklists items looked incorrect, we would have the option to call a "hold" (five minutes at a time) or call a postponement of the launch. There was a flurry of discussion as a few of our temperatures looked marginal, with one out of range. We debated whether to call a hold, but decided that the deviation was acceptable. (This proved to be the right decision, as all temperatures came within range in the several minutes before launch time.)
We were asked for our "go" status and we responded…GO!
In the block house, Lupe continued the countdown, her voice broadcast over loudspeakers in our building. On one wall of the building, a garage door was rolled up, giving everyone on that side a clear view of the launch rail. Most of our team gathered there to watch the launch. There would be plenty of time to run back in before the observation interval began. I, however, stayed inside, and I'll tell you why later.
I'll leave off at this cliffhanger for now…stay tuned for part 2, a description of the launch and flight!
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