Pictures from JP Aerospace's May 5, 2001 Dark Sky Station flight

On Saturday, May 5, JP Aerospace launched the Mesospheric Explorer and Dark Sky Station. My vehicle was on "Recovery 1". We left camp at 4:30AM, before the DSS launch, to chase the Explorer. We lost its signal early, and it wasn't as high a priority as DSS, so we pre-positioned ourselves on the other side of the Black Rock Desert about 40 miles away near the road junction at Sulphur.

When DSS took off to the southeast instead of the northeast, we cut over to I-80 and met with the other recovery teams in the town of Lovelock. From there we went to some effort to re-establish radio contact with JPA Base Camp (which was a success on simplex and then with a repeater) before proceeding to the Antelope Valley where the station was projected to have landed.

Indeed, when the teams entered the Antelope Valley, Tim received a data burst (an APRS packet) from DSS's main computer with its exact location. Then it became a race among the five teams to be the first to find it. Following the GPS arrow, we passed a hill that most of the other teams were stopping to climb for a better view. My navigator, Gary Haussmann KG6CGA, was the first say the magic words, "There it is!" I announced its location to the other teams and credited Gary with the find. We heard a competing claim for first to see it credited to Aubrey Powell (JP's son.) But he had run from Uriah Barnett KF6FQA's truck, who was behind us, up the hill before he saw it. We think he just didn't hear our call on the radio that it had already been spotted.

We decided to wait for JPA member Dale Schornack N5YSR to arrive to take some video. Then we disassembled it and secured the arms to our vehicles for transport back to Black Rock. My truck was the subject of the most discussion, since we packed the arms vertically. We did that so that the foam triangles would be parallel to the air flow instead of acting like a parachute. But see the pictures to find out how tall it was.

(1488x992 755K) (500x333 27K)	3:30AM: Dark Sky Station is sitting on its stands. Randy and Natalie are working on part of it.
(1488x992 515K) (500x333 32K)	At Mission Control, preparations are well under way for the launch of the Mesospheric Explorer.
(1488x992 452K) (500x333 18K)	The two balloons for the Explorer are being filled.
(1488x992 463K) (500x333 15K)	The balloons are starting to look full.
(1488x992 432K) (500x333 15K)	The balloons are starting to look full.
(1488x992 719K) (500x333 26K)	A crowd is developing around 4AM. More cameras showing up. Some of the observers may be JPA sponsors.
(1488x992 652K) (500x333 23K)	This is a bit misleading... Explorers balloons are seen from the other side of the Dark Sky Station. Contrary to what it looks, they are not attached to the station. On the far right, the balloon lines are being attached to the Explorer.
(1488x992 649K) (500x333 25K)	The Explorer is really a tiny box compared to those big balloons. Though this is just a "shakedown" test flight, this is what it will take to attempt a balloon altitude record.
(1488x992 649K) (500x333 23K)	Final attachments of all the lines before launching Explorer.
(1488x992 666K) (500x333 23K)	Pulling the lines to full extension.
(1488x992 862K) (500x333 26K)	Balloon release. Before another picture could be taken, Explorer screamed upward into the darkness. Its strobe and reg/green aviation lights were clearly visible, but not a good picture.
(1488x992 821K) (500x333 33K)	4:30AM: My truck viewed from the rear just before departure from camp as "Recovery 1".
(1488x992 788K) (500x333 27K)	4:30AM: My truck viewed from the front just before departure from camp as "Recovery 1".
(1488x992 776K) (500x333 51K)	Waiting for the Dark Sky Station launch near Barrel Springs... Uriah looks in an abandoned mine shaft. The red sign says, "Danger - unsafe mine".
(1488x992 520K) (500x333 30K)	Waiting for the Dark Sky Station launch near Barrel Springs... Aubrey, Uriah and Gary look at the mine shafts. I'm waiting by the radio as I take this picture, listening to reports of the wind at the launch site. It's calm here.
(1488x992 528K) (500x333 23K)	I didn't take any more pictures after launch during the recovery mission. But this is pretty representative of the back roads in Nevada. This dirt road very well could be a state highway. (No, I'm not kidding. But it is kind of funny that they have unpaved state highways.)
(1488x992 594K) (500x333 30K)	Dave M and Matt (Recovery Team 2) were first to actually reach the landing site.
(1488x992 630K) (500x333 42K)	Here's a wide shot of the landing site from the truck. It points out how amazing it was that we found it way out here. This picture was taken about when Dale arrived. In the far background in the haze, the dry lakebed of the Carson Sink is visible, where there is a Navy bombing range used by Fallon Naval Air Station. Since DSS was headed near that, it was one of the reasons the JPA Mission Control decided to abort the mission. As rough as this terrain was, at least it's outside the military property.
(1488x992 588K) (500x333 33K)	Gary and I carried the first arm up. Dave M is carrying the second. Far behind him, James and Aubrey are each carrying an arm up. Though one person can certainly carry these, we found that you're better able to fight the breeze (which wants to treat it like a sail) and make faster progress if two carry it.
(1488x992 666K) (500x333 40K)	Aubrey brings the fourth arm up to the road.
(992x1489 544K) (500x751 56K)	We worked hard to secure two of the arms vertically in my truck. This allows the wind to pass parallel with the foam panels. Left to right: Aubrey, James, Nate, Uriah, Gary and me. Photo by Dale Schornack N5YSR.
(1488x992 471K) (500x333 26K)	And a side view of the stack on my truck. Note the ropes we used to secure it against the wind. This configuration sustained 70mph driving back to Black Rock.

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Copyright (c) 2001 Ian Kluft