14 December 2003 Click image for full size!
Another halo picture, with actual sundogs in it! If you look closely to the left, you can see a red balloon- no, it's not the red balloon that befriended that French kid in the movie that most of you might have seen when you were kids. No, this is more of a grown-up toy to sample air around the different levels of the boundary layer. I believe that they have 100 meters of bev-a-line all the way up there. Earlier this week we were discussing how much lifting capacity a 100 liter dewar of liquid helium could have, if it were all vaporized (the astronomers have one- have to keep the sensors cooled). Imagine, a huge balloon lifting the new station into the lower stratosphere and having it cruise around the continental edge via the polar vortex. At times, if you were lucky, you might catch a glimpse of it dangling in space and possibly hear the laughter of the crazed beakers who inhabit it! (We're total nerds here....)