I love that I can start a story with, "On my day off I watched a balloon the size of a football stadium carrying 1000s of pounds of expensive scientific instruments get launched 120,000 feet into the stratosphere to collect data on the formation of galaxies". Yup, that's a typical day at McMurdo. The variety and breadth of science experiments currently underway in Antarctica is mindboggling. Michelle and I were lucky to squeeze our way onto a van driving out to the LDB (Long Duration Balloon) facility and got dropped off at a little warming shelter 3 miles away from the launch site to watch the balloon. Here are some photos of the event. Watch the video of the launch by someone standing closer than I was. For more information on the balloon and the payload data check out: http://blastexperiment.info/index.php
The buildings on the right are the largest buildings in the world on skiers
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