Then, ask them anything via Reddit, see below:
Friday, 3 June 2016
It's results day!
Tune in to the live press conference with the LPF science team on 7th June 2016 to hear all about the results of the mission!
Friday, 12 February 2016
Gravitational Waves exist!
Well, we couldn't have asked for better news. Following hot on the heels of the successful launch of LPF, confirmation that gravitational waves really do exist!
The direct detection made by LIGO is truly groundbreaking and lends weight to the cause for development of a space based gravitational wave detector.
Read more here:
Monday, 14 December 2015
Interview with the Launch Site Range Operations Manager
We've all heard the authoritative voice, the final countdown, 10, 9, 8... But have you like me ever wondered who is the person behind those famous last lines we all hear during the launch of a rocket into Space. Well if you have, here is your chance to meet the DDO for LISA Pathfinder, Jon Harr of CNES and The Guiana Space Centre, I caught up with him just after the successful launch of LPF to find out more about the countdown and his role.
1. Tell me a bit about yourself, name, age, where you are from and job title…
Name Jon Harr, Age 42, from Oslo, Norway, job title Range Operations Director (DDO). I am Norwegian, but moved to France in 1998 to do my M.Sc. Telecom Engineering internship at the French Space Agency CNES in Toulouse. Since then, I have been working with CNES on various spacecraft missions, only interrupted by an academical gap year to do an MBA. In 2010, I moved to French Guiana and took on a position as a Range Mission Manager, managing radar and telemetry systems on the range. In 2013 I became part of the DDO team and did my first launch as a DDO in Oct 2014 after 11 months of training. This was an Ariane 5 launch.
2. What is the role of the DDO?
The DDO is as the title indicates the manager for all the launch campaign operations on the range. Roughly, these can be divided into 3 parts :
- Management of the spacecraft preparation campaign, up to the start of the combined operations.
- Management of the range preparations for the launch. This includes all the systems that are used during the countdown and tracking mission :
o telemetry stations and processing means
o radars and positioning systems
o flight safety systems
o security systems
o energy, air condition and logistics
o telecom links
o time synchronization
o video systems
o meteorological measurement systems
- Countdown operations during general rehearsal and D0. Real time management of all systems + communications/PR, safety, security, configuration management, Quality, etc.
As you can see the DDO has quite la lot of responsibility. We often compare the DDO role with the conductor of an orchestra. He ensures that everyone works in the right pace and on the right task so that the big machine that is the range will operate flawlessly. But of course, there are often problems and the DDO also manages real time problem solving when necessary.
3. What is the most nerve wracking part of the final chronology for DDO?
Is definitely the last hour of the count-down. Especially when there is no launch window as was the case for LISA Pathfinder. In this case all systems must be “green” at one specific moment, or we cannot launch. There is a lot of pressure, and not a lot of time to sole anomalies when they occur.
4. When preparing the range for a launch, what things do you have to consider?
First of all, we have to make sure that flight safety has a good visibility of the launcher by positioning radars and telemetry antennas during all the critical phases of the flight. This is especially true during first 10 mins when the launcher is still low and close to inhabited areas.
Next, we need to make sure that there are telemetry stations in the right positions on the globe so that important flight events can be spotted and recorded via the launcher telemetry. This can sometimes be quite difficult, and we even have to make use of a naval station (basically a boat with an antenna) from time to time. We also hook up our telemetry kit to antennas in very different countries, from Kenya and Gabon, to Australia, South Korea, Canada, Bermuda and Hawaii.
Finally, ensuring that the launcher and flight safety weather criteria are respected. The launcher itself is quite robust, and mostly sensitive to lightning strikes. However, we also have flight safety constraints, especially on the ground and high altitude winds. Luckily, we have very a highly competent team of meteorologists on the range to help us conduct the weather predictions.
5. What safe guards are in place on the day of the launch in case of a problem after lift-off?
CNES has delegation from the French authorities to assure the safety of people, property and environment for every launch. After lift-off, this task is handled by the Flight Safety team, who has a constant real-time visibility of the launcher on-board parameters and trajectory. If a problem occurs after lift-off, flight safety will immediately detect it and have the possibility to neutralize the launcher if exists the flight corridor and becomes dangerous. The safety limits are computed for each launch in such a way as to avoid any risk for populated areas.
6. What is the most interesting part of your role as a DDO (which part do you enjoy the most?)
The part I enjoy the most is the countdown operations. This is when you as a DDO can enjoy the results of the hard work laid down. A smooth countdown is the fruit of thousands of hours of work by several hundred people for weeks and sometimes months, and seeing everything go like clockwork is associated with much joy for me.
7. What is the most difficult part of your role as DDO (is there anything you don’t enjoy?)
The hardest part is probable to manage the high stress level and long working hours over a fairly long time prior to the each launch. Sometimes I almost don’t see my family for several days in a row and it is hard in the end to stay alert manage all the different activities in parallel.
8. How many times have you acted as DDO for a launch? Do you have a special way to prepare personally?
LISA Pathfinder on VV06 was my 3rd launch as a DDO. In addition, I have been DDO deputy many times, both during training and now that I am qualified.
9. When you were young, what did you want to be “when you grew up” ?
I had no particular ambition, but I remember being very fascinated by technology and of course space. My mum took me to see the 2001 Space Odyssey when I was 6. It scared me a lot, but left a long lasting impression of fascination and wonder.
10. Who has inspired you most? Who would you most like to meet?
Like most of my colleagues in the space business, I’ve always been very fascinated by the Apollo missions. I guess meeting one of those pioneer astronauts would rank highly.
11. What advice would you give to young people in school today who are interested in working in the Space business?
That it’s a long and winding road, and thus important not to have too high expectations too early. Space programs are extremely long and complicated, and our working days are most of the time not very spectacular. But if you have the ability to experience joy from collective victories, and if you have the patience to work hard for many years to get there, then the sense of meaning you will get from accomplishing a space project is highly rewarding. At least it has been for me.
12. What will you be doing after VV06?
Sleep, spend time with my kids, kitesurf, play the guitar and, after x-mas, start the preparations for my next launch campaign.
Thanks Jon, great talking with you.
Jon Harr, LPF DDO centre of the action during the LPF launch on 2 & 3 December 2015
Wednesday, 2 December 2015
It's Launch Day!!!
After a slight delay yesterday LISA Pathfinder launch countdown officially got underway his afternoon at 17:00 GMT.
The team are now in the midst of what will be a long night ahead hopefully culminating in a sucessful launch at 01:04 GMT on 3rd December 2015.
So what happens during the countdown?
The countdown for LPF is around 11 hours. To begin with it is relatively quiet, the electrical spacecraft team arrive at the spacecraft control room and begin powering up the spacecraft control centre, similar activities happen in the launcher control room (all physically separate places). Then the main control room for the mission comes online around 8 hours prior to the launch time.
Of couse around the world at both the main mission control centre in Europe and at the various tracking stations around the globe people will be taking their seats for their part in the LPF story.
For the next few hours all efforts are concentrated on checking out the numerous interfaces, making sure communication between all parties is working, ensuring every contributing element is GO for launch.
Around 3 hours before the scheduled lift off, the mobile gantry is removed, revealing the launcher.
Finally, in the last 30minutes, the status of all elements will (hopefully) turn Green for GO!
With a 1s launch window to target, all eyes will be focussed on the GO status in the final 15mins.
Stay tuned tonight for live updates via twitter. Follow events as they unfold during the final hours with me @vicki_lonnon
Want to watch the coverage of the launch live? Tune in online at www.arianespace.com, live feed begins 20mins prior to to launch.
Google hangout with the Kourou team
If you missed the google hangout on monday you can watch it here
Saturday, 28 November 2015
Gravity - your questions answered
Want to ask questions about gravity, want to talk to a Nobel prize winning physicist? Well then join the Google hangout with George Smoot and others on Monday 30th November
Thursday, 26 November 2015
The final countdown... Part 3 D-9 and D-8
As a QA there are many exciting and interesting aspects of the campaign that I have to get involved in. Now the spacecraft is encapsulated in the fairing, you could be forgiven for thinking that my job here is done... not so fast!
I also have to act as a witness for the movements of the now fully encapsulated spacecraft (as I have nicknamed it, the egg, or more formally known as the PAC ).
This involves joining the convoy that will move the fairing with the spacecraft inside from the clean room to the Vega launch pad where it will be hoisted up to the top of the Vega rocket.
Exciting stuff! The 10km journey is made by road and took approximately 2.5hours, yes SLOW! It has to be very slow in order to ensure that the fiaring arrives safely. As this is a hazardous operation, everyone involved has to travel wearing the very fetching bright orange safety overalls which are both chemical and fie retardant to protect us in the event of an accident. It is also necessary to carry a gas mask with us at all times.
Once at the launch pad, it is time to don hard hats and safety shoes as well ready for the lifting of the fairing from the truck, to the 39.4m platform within the Vega launch tower.
Not sure orange is really my colour!
LPF is transferred by road to the launch tower.
Image Copyright ESA–Manuel Pedoussaut, 2015
Up into the launch tower...
Image Copyright ESA–Manuel Pedoussaut, 2015
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
The final countdown... Part 2 D-10 16th November 2015
After a somewhat brutal alarm awakening at 02:45 this morning, myself and 3 others have made our way in fo a very early start at 04:00 in order to complete the removal of the remaining non-flight items from the spacecraft and to perform what should be, the last ever inspection.
Today is launch day -10, encapsulation day.
The so called "red tag" items are protective covers for the various sensitive equipments mounted to the spacecraft. We aim to keep these on fo as long as possible and only ever remove them for specific testing or (as now) for flight. They cover items such as thrusters, protecting them in terms of both cleanliness and also from accidental damage during other activities (such as lifting). In addition, we also have remove before flight covers on our optical equipments, such as the Sun Sensors and Star Trackers.
For the last inspection, this is the last opportunity for myself and my colleague to pick up any issues and have them corrected.
After the inspection, we perform a full "accountability" check of all the various emove before flight/install for flight items. We have to be absolutely sue that every item that should have been removed has been and every item that had to be installed for flight has been. All the items then get stored securly until the spacecraft is successfully commissioned in flight.
With everything confirmed to have been completed, we are ready to encapsulate the spacecraft within the fairing of the rocket. This is the last time human eyes will fall upon this spacecraft, going, going, gone! Now encapsulated, the fairing, will act like a mobile clean room until it is jettisoned around 4 minutes after lift off.
Image Copyright ESA–Manuel Pedoussaut, 2015
Image Copyright ESA–Manuel Pedoussaut, 2015
Monday, 23 November 2015
LPF in The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/21/satellite-to-solve-einstein-last-theory
Friday, 20 November 2015
The final countdown... Part 1 D-11 and counting
Here we are, after around 6 weeks in Kourou, we have now entered the so-called combined operations phase which is when the Spacecraft is finally prepared for launch.
Launch day - 11 and we are mating the now fully fuelled spacecraft with the payload adapter of the Vega rocket. This is the adapter through which we will power the spacecraft during the coming days for check out and during the launch.
You may remember the post from earlier this year titled "the shoe fits"... well that was the so called fit check with this adapter. Now, we are going to integrate the two for flight.
Tune in again for the developments in the countdown to the launch of Lisa Pathfinder.
Lifting up from the fuelling adapter
Over she goes...
Safely on the launcher adapter.
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Time to fill up the tanks
As the loading of the propellant into the spacecraft propulsion module tanks takes place ready for launch, I caught up with members of the team responsible for undertaking the hazardous task of loading the fuel…
Q: What fuel are we loading into the propulsion module?
A: The LPF PRM has a bi-propellant system which means we have an oxidiser and a fuel. As with many spacecraft, the oxidiser is NTO (a mix of Nitrogen Oxides) and the fuel is MMH (Mono-methyl Hydrazine).
Q: Its sounds like a dangerous job, how dangerous is it?
A: This is by far the most dangerous activity that the team face. The fuel is toxic so we have to take measures to ensure we don’t come into contact with it directly as it can cause chemical burns and anoxia (which is a severe lack of oxygen in your system that in this case could occur if there was a leak in the atmosphere, especially as the oxidiser has a boiling point of approx. 21degC). The risks are mitigated by the use of special suits which are worn by those undertaking the loading of the propellants. In addition there are a number of safety features built into the design of the spacecraft to ensure that the oxidiser and the fuel don’t inadvertently meet each other during ground operations. In addition there is constant monitoring of the level atmosphere in the facility to ensure any potential leaks are quickly detected and contained.
Q: Tell us more about the SCAPE suit you have to wear – you look like a deep sea diver, or an Astronaut?!
A: SCAPE stands for Self Contained Atmospheric Protection Ensemble. It protects the propellant loading team from coming into contact with hazardous and toxic propellants. It provides a positive pressure inside the suit to ensure no toxic vapours can enter and protects any liquid propellant coming into contact with your skin. Underneath we wear a fetching cotton onesie as the suit itself is basically plastic. Over the onesie we wear a vest containing our communications equipment. The suit is finished off with a pair of plastic boots and a helmet.
Q: What is it like working in a SCAPE suit?
A: Working in a SCAPE suit can be very hard work if you have to do a lot of movements, the suits are quite heavy and hence we prepare the facility in advance so minimum effort is required in the suit. We set out all equipment and ensure the area is clear of as many obstructions as possible. These suits are very safe but become very uncomfortable after 5 hours in them. We also have a team in the control room that dictate all commands to the team in the facility; these are then repeated and performed. In addition, they will often ask us to solve a few brain teasers and puzzles, just to check we are still OK.
Q: What will you do after the fuelling is finished?
A: Relax and have big BBQ for the team!
After the loading activities we have to decontaminate our loading equipment to make it safe for transport back to the UK. Some of this activity is carried out in what is called a Splash suit and breathing apparatus, when we have to disassemble the different parts. We have to flush the system with demineralised water to neutralise the oxidiser and fuel. After this the equipment is purge dried with nitrogen ready for shipment to the UK. This process reduces the ppm (parts per million) level of propellant in the equipment so that it complies with safe levels for transportation.
The team get ready - first the onesie!
Checking out the flexibility of the suit...
More flexibility checks!
Time for a team photo!
Ready for action!
Now for the seious part... the fuelling activity begins
Friday, 6 November 2015
Interview with a scientist
For this post, I've been speaking with ESA Project Scientist Dr Paul McNamara... read on to find out more about Paul, his role on LPF and what makes Gravitational Waves so cool!
- What’s your name?
Dr Paul McNamara
I’m the LISA Pathfinder Project Scientist based at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Space Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands. My role in the project is to lead the scientific aspects of the mission, and to liaise between ESA and the scientific community (universities). The Project Scientist’s role really comes to life after the mission is launched and when we have ensured everything is working as planned. We then start the science operations - the fun part of any project! For LISA Pathfinder this means we will run different experiments each day (for 90 days) with the goal to understand the physics of all the types of disturbances which can push a test mass away from a perfect gravitational free-fall.- What’s your role on LPF?
I started studying gravitational waves back in October 1994, when I started my PhD in the Gravitational Waves group at the University of Glasgow. My undergraduate degree (also at Glasgow University) was a joint honours degree in Physics and Astronomy - I loved astronomy, but also wanted to work in experimental physics. The gravitational waves group offered both: theoretical astrophysics of the sources of gravitational waves (black holes & neutron stars), combined with the laboratory development of gravitational wave detectors. At this time, LISA was in the early stages of design - I was lucky to be the first PhD student whose thesis was dedicated to the LISA mission, and have seen the mission change and grow over the last ~20 years.- How long have you been studying gravitational waves? What first got you interested in studying them?
Gravitational waves are a direct consequence of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, however, almost 100 years after gravitational waves were first proposed, we have not yet directly detected them! Gravitational waves remain the last major prediction of general relativity which we have not yet confirmed. Therefore, making a direct detection of gravitational waves will provide a final confirmation that general relativity is the correct theory of gravity.- In your opinion, what would be the most exciting part about discovering gravitational waves?
However, detection is only the start. What I, along with the rest of the gravitational wave community, really want is the astrophysics we can accomplish with this completely new way of observing the universe. We have theories on what we expect to see…however, whenever we open a new window to the Universe (i.e. x-rays), we see things which we do not have theories for. These are the exciting sources of gravitational waves which may allow us to start to better understand the dark side of the Universe.
- Who is your scientific hero?
Good question. For obvious reasons, there is Einstein. Along with several other physicists at the end of the 19th century, he revolutionised the entire field, and even now, 100 years later, we are still trying to understand the consequences of his gravitational theory.
Also, being an undergraduate at the University of Glasgow, I was surrounded by the work of Lord Kelvin (Sir William Thomson). My first physics lecture at university was held in the same lecture theatre which Lord Kelvin taught in almost 100 years before - an old room, but bursting with history. You couldn’t help but sit there and think of what it must have been like to be in the presence of such an amazing person.
I grew up in the North West of Glasgow….very close to the river Kelvin! My father was a TV repair man, and as such I grew up surrounded by electronics, and was forever playing with the circuit boards from old TVs! This gave me an interest in electronics from a very young age, however, at school, electronics was covered under physics. This naturally led to my love for physics. Also, like most people of my age, I loved watching TV programmes such as Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, as well as movies like Star Wars…I also wanted to flying around space visiting different planets!- Where did you grow up? When you were a kid what did you want to be?
When I applied to university, I planned to study physics and chemistry, however, my academic advisor suggested I take physics and astronomy instead….a life changing decision which I have never regretted, and which has led me to where I am today!
After my first post-doc, I decided to leave academic life, and took a job in industry, designing opto-electronic sensors. However, I was not cut out for industrial life….my interests lay in science, not in a large engineering company, where the main criteria is how much profit can we make! Luckily for me, a former collaborator in the LISA project had moved to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre as the LISA Project Scientist. He was building a team, and asked me if I was interested in applying to NASA. I jumped at the chance! I was then back where I belonged developing the laser interferometric system for LISA. After three years at NASA, the opportunity arose to return to Europe as the LISA Pathfinder Project Scientist at ESA. Ten years later, I still feel very fortunate to be working at the space agency - where else do you get to have coffee every day with the scientists from all of our missions currently observing the universe, or orbiting the planets of the solar system!- How did you end up where you are today?
- Who in the world would you most like to meet?
JK Rowling! My kids love the Harry Potter books and films…which I have now seen more times than I care to remember! I would love to ask her how she came up with all the details of the alternate world of wizards and muggles. Did she have a plan from the start, or did it grow as the years went by. Are the characters (especially the weird ones, e.g. Mad Eye Moody) based on real people, or only exist in her mind?
Although very far removed from science, I can see similarities with writing a series of novels - when designing a new mission (like LISA or LISA Pathfinder), the science team have to try to think of everything up front….which we always fail at! The final mission which we launch is similar to the one the scientists first proposed, but it has grown as we learn the details that come from building the satellite.
- What comes next for you after LPF?
As a scientist at ESA, I may be fortunate to work on another mission. This could be either the gravitational wave mission which will be selected for the 3rd large class mission of our science programme, or possibly in a completely different field of astronomy or physics. Personally, I would like to work on a new field of astronomy…..life is never boring when you’re learning something new.
- When you’re not studying gravitational waves what do you like doing (hobbies/free time etc)?
When not working on the LISA Pathfinder mission, I spend my time on the golf course. Fortunately, at ESTEC we have a small golf course on site - after a long day of meetings, there is no better way to wind down than a quick nine holes!
When not on the golf course, I like to spend time going for long walks with my family…and the dog. Its a great way to see the Dutch countryside.
However, when back in Scotland, we spend our time in the highlands, baggingMunros…hill walking is one activity we cannot do in the Netherlands!
- In one sentence, what would you say to teenagers to encourage them to study
science & maths?
Science is not about the equations you learn, it is about learning how to think differently, and how to perceive the world, and universe, around you….and to have fun!
Paul with LPF @ IABG in Munich, August 2015 - Picture Courtesy of ESA & Airbus Defence & Space.
Friday, 30 October 2015
Saturday, 24 October 2015
Spaceflight Now features LPF
Check out the article in Soaceight Now at:
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
21st October 2015 - Back to the Future!
Today, 21st October 2015, the day super fans of the movie trilogy of the late 1980's have long waited for. Having been a small child back in 1989 when BTTF2 came out, I remember watching the movies on TV a few years later and re-watching them countless times since (my husband is a massive fan and in fact we always have them recorded on the digi box!) In fact it was my lovely husband who text me excitedly at 04:30am to remind me of this auspicious date - thanks sweetie, forgot the time difference I think ;-)
Right, so now you're all thinking, what the hec has BTTF got to do with LISA Pathfinder... well the link may no be quite so tenuous as you might think...
Time Travel.
The main theme of the BTTF movies of course. Now then as most A level physics students will tell you, time travel to the future is theoretically possible, if you can get up close toward the speed of light, in theory as predicted by Einstein's special theory of relativity you could travel forward in time just like Marty and Doc Brown do in the film when they travel from 1985 to 2015. But back in time, like travelling from 1985 back to 1955, now thats a little more tricky. Why, well because to go back in time you need to travel at or beyond the speed of light and as Special Relativity and E=MC^2 tells us, as you get closer to light speed, your mass increases meaing you slow down and need more energy to speed up again.
So you need a cheat, something that can enable you to manipulate the fabric of space-time to enable you to travel back in time. Enter Einstein's General Relativity and, you guessed it those gravitational waves that we're hoping LISA Pathfinder will help demonstrate the technology needed to enable us to build a full scale in orbit graviational wave detector. Einstein's theory, that space and time are not separate but intrinsically linked as space-time. Gravitational waves are then ripples in space-time caused by the rapid motion of massive objects like colliding Black Holes. Wormholes theoretically could exists where the curvature of space-time somehow creates a tunnel connecting different regions of space-time that in a flat universe would be very great disances apart. This could in theory mean it would be possible to travel via a wormhole to an area of space-time that is either very far away in distance, or in time, perhaps even back in time without having to travel at greater than light speed.
So while some of the predictions made in BTTF 2 about 2015 have not quite come to fruition, our knowlegde and understanding of the universe will hopefully soon start to be greatly expanded and if/when gravitational waves are detected in space, science fiction might be a step closer to becoming science fact! Happy BTTF day all.
Picture credit: http://m.space.com/30829-scientists-pursue-time-travel-via-wormhole.html
Wednesday, 14 October 2015
LPF feature in Space UK magazine
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/448911/SUK_Iss_43_July_2015.pdf
Monday, 12 October 2015
Business Class anyone?
Well, what an awesome experience... not what most would think of as business class, but something I'm going to call "Cargo Business" :-)
When I first found out that we would were definitely transporting the spacecraft to the launch site by air (there had been talk earlier of shipping by boat) I was very excited indeed. In my role as the Quality Assurance Engineer for the Spacecraft, it was kind part of my job to travel with the spacecraft, to ensure that it arrived safely and that throughout the journey everything remained tickety boo!
Why, some might ask, was I so excited to fly all the way from London to Cayenne on board a Cargo plane... in fact a lot of people even questioned my sanity when they realised how super excited I was by the prospect, "you're mad", "rather you than me", "what no windows, that sounds awful!" were just a few of the comments!
Well I might be a little mad, but at heart I am a massive plane geek! (Or maybe just a massive geek generally!) I've always loved planes. I have fond memories of trips to the RAF Cosford Museum with my grandparents and cousin's as well as attending the air shows as we lived very near two RAF bases (growing up in Telford, nestled between Cosford and Shawbury). Then of course there is my husband who is a pilot and I love asking him all sorts of questions about what he does. He's a plane geek too (sorry honey, but you know its true). So you can see that there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity (quite possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity) to take a ride on one of the worlds largest aircraft!
Enough rambling, you want to know what it was like!
It was a lot more comfortable than I'd been led to believe. The passenger cabin was a cross between an old 80's passenger aircraft and an 80's train carriage. The cabin was accessed via a step ladder at the rear of the aircraft. True there are no real windows to speak of (a couple of very tiny porthole windows in the emergency exit doors) as you might expect for a cargo plane and the interior was of course basic, but all the essentials were there, in a fashion. Our merry little band of volunteers and those whose "job it was" (not that we minded) to travel on this flying juggernaut settled ourselves in the back two rows of the 20 seater cabin, got out our travel pillows, and buckled up for the ride.
Taking off was kind of surreal, in fact you were ony really aware of being in the air from the noise! Oh was it noisey on there!!! If you've ever thought you needed ear plugs on a regular commercial flight, then you would have required ear defenders on this one. Even with the ear plugs, the noise level was only reduced to "normal" aircraft noise levels. We quickly adapted to lip reading and hand gestures to communicate with one another.
After about an hour or two we all felt a little peckish, so a couple of our group went to investigate the boxes of on board catering that had been loaded on for us. Yep, no steward or steardess on this flight, it was all self service ;-) Even the safety briefing, good job its a fairly universal set of instructions, given the safety card... (see below) all in Russian of course!
Food was good, smoked salmon and prawn salad, cheesecake, selection of cheese and biscuits and more bread rolls that you could shake a stick at. Drinks, well, since we were officially on duty, the rules state that it was a dry flight, but there was plenty of soft drinks, and tea and coffee on tap (of course we had to go out to the little kitchen to make it).
Probably the most "interesting" thing to note on board was the toilet... afraid I didn't take a picture, just didn't seem quite right! The good news, the door was fully lockable and unlike some had tried to convince me prior to the flight, full height (yes people tried to convince me the door was only half height!) Behind the lockable bathroom door though a bit of a surprise... two toilets, proudly facing one another! That's right, the toilet was a social space! Luckilly though we all chose to go it alone!
Landing in the Azores just before 1am, we were only aware we had landed due to the slight change in feel of the vibrations of the aircraft. Being so huge and with us being so high up, you really didn't know if you were in the air on on the ground. We stopped off for a bit in Santa Maria, just an hour or so to refuel and being the only aircraft there, we were allowed off the aircraft briefly to stretch our legs. I also performed my checks on the spacecraft container, making sure the temperature and humidity were still good and the special purge line we have to run for the instrument was still running. Then it was back on board, time to buckle up again and jet off across the atlantic to Cayenne.
I have to say, it was probaby one of the most fun and interesting experiences of my life and certainly something I'll never forget, in fact I fully intend to be boring people recounting the story well into my old age!
In the news again
Popular as ever LPF has made it into BBC news online once again as she left Stevenage bound for Kourou. Read the article here:
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