24 February 2004 Click image for full size!
Today was time to launch another ozone sonde- the one on the left is Troy, who's the medical assistant to the station doctor and Jason is reeling out line from the sonde before letting the whole thing go. And yes, it was pretty windy this day, but the readings were actually fine through all the blowing snow- the main concern was keeping the balloon from hitting the ground before taking off. You wouldn't think that would be a problem, but that balloon can really bounce around in a strong wind. But this is one of the latex rubber balloons. In a couple months, it'll get too cold for these balloons and we'll switch over to the plastic balloons which can be even more unruly- you'll see some pictures of those when we get to them.