Pictures from the Paragon space launch attempt, Sept 14-18, 2003

Tuesday, September 16

Images of Paragon Astronautics event and equipment displayed with permission.

Tuesday had better weather. We might have been able to launch except for problems with the weather balloons - they kept losing the signals to them. Without the data, the launch couldn't happen. The wind was probably acceptable, if we only had the data.

When the time limit ran out at noon and the launch was scrubbed for the day, that was it for Ben. He had to be back at work the next day. So he gave a few more plane rides before leaving for home. We got some pictures of two of his takeoffs by driving parallel to the "road" (extra-flattened area where a lot of cars had been driving) which he used as his runway.

Our team provided radio expertise to the event so we helped with troubleshooting the balloon radio reception problems. We started during the launch window but it wasn't discovered until after the close of the window that a connector on a coaxial cable had a broken conductor, effectively disconnecting the antenna from the data receiver. That was why they kept losing contact with the balloons this day.

As a secondary solution to make sure we didn't have such problems the next day, Vic Sagis (Kevin's father) drove Jeremy to meet one of his friends in Auburn, California where they picked up Yagi antennas for the radio band used by the balloons. So the data connection should be great on the next two days' attempts. ...anything to make sure all the launch criteria could be met.

Meanwhile, Justin, Rafael and I drove to look at the area around Sulphur NV, a ghost town near a mine about 30 miles to the northeast.

(1536x1024 1964K) (500x333 24K)	Tuesday morning at the Paragon launch site.
(1536x1024 2037K) (500x333 32K)	Mark Caviezel KC0JHQ from Colorado and Rafael prepare to go downrange as the Stratofox 6 team.
(1536x1024 2080K) (500x333 26K)	A weather balloon is prepared to check winds aloft in preparation for the rocket launch.
(1024x1536 1940K) (500x750 40K)	The weather balloon is away.
(1536x1024 1998K) (500x333 24K)	In the foreground, the rebar with tennis balls are the tie-downs for Ben's plane. (At the time of this photo, Ben's plane is behind me getting its pre-flight check.) Behind that stands the mast for the HF Ham Radio antena. In the background are the Granite Range mountains.
(1536x1024 1842K) (500x333 22K)	After the launch was scrubbed for the day on Tuesday, Ben gave more plane rides. In this photo, Justin is getting in the plane.
(1536x1024 1849K) (500x333 25K)	Ben, Rafael and Justin prepare for their flight to look at the downrange area where we expect to search for the rocket after its flight.
(1536x1024 1999K) (500x333 27K)	Ben, Rafael and Justin take off.
(1536x1024 2124K) (500x333 31K)	Kevin's nephews use a mini-dune to make sand castles. The dust cloud in the background is from the Burning Man cleanup area, which has been loosened up from the 30,000-person event and by grading done by their cleanup crews. It was clearly visible from the air as originating at the BM site, with sharp boundaries matching the BM cleanup site. When the winds were out of the south, it looked like this. When the winds were out of the north, this dust blew at us.
(1536x1024 1930K) (500x333 21K)	Dave enters the plane for his ride. Dave is a licensed private pilot but he's eager to get his first chance to see a Mooney in flight.
(1536x1024 1442K) (500x333 13K)	I had to guess where to aim the camera while driving parallel to the plane while it was taking off. Though the plane is in the photo, you can hardly tell.
(1536x1024 1649K) (500x333 15K)	I was able to keep up while the plane was on the ground. Now Ben speeds away after takeoff. I'm doing about 70mph after crossing the ruts for the "road" on the playa.
(1536x1024 1621K) (500x333 16K)	Ben speeds away after takeoff.
(1536x1024 1888K) (500x333 26K)	Sean holds the coax cable with the broken connector which Stratofox helped Paragon and OEX identify as the cause of the problems receiving balloon telemetry during Tuesday's launch attempt.
(1536x1024 1787K) (500x333 25K)	Sean holds the coax cable with the broken connector which Stratofox helped Paragon and OEX identify as the cause of the problems receiving balloon telemetry during Tuesday's launch attempt.
(1536x1024 1997K) (500x333 25K)	With Tuesday's launch scrubbed, Ben has run out of the time he can take away from work. He has put his camping gear in the plane and prepares for departure.
(1536x1024 1642K) (500x333 17K)	Now we're going to try to photograph Ben's takeoff again. This time Rafael and Justin are standing in the bed of my truck with their cameras. And Jeremy is in my passenger seat to take pictures too. In the rear view mirror you can see them standing on either side, and Camp Stratofox in the background.
(1536x1024 1910K) (500x333 24K)	Ben begins his takeoff roll.
(1536x1024 1896K) (500x333 20K)	Ben rotates for takeoff. But we missed it in this photo.
(1536x1024 1881K) (500x333 21K)	Ben takes off and raises the gear.
(1536x1024 1873K) (500x333 16K)	As before, Ben speeds away after takeoff and we can no longer keep up.
(1536x1024 1869K) (500x333 24K)	Ben climbs out on his flight home.
(1536x1024 1845K) (500x333 24K)	Tuesday afternoon Justin, Rafael and I explored the area around the ghost town at Sulphur, east of the Black Rock Desert playa. I took this photo standing on my truck.
(1536x1024 1833K) (500x333 25K)	From the road junction at Sulphur, this is a view to the northeast at the strip mines nearby.
(1536x1024 1719K) (500x333 20K)	Justin and Rafael got a head start exploring the collapsed buildings at the old town of Sulphur while I was taking the previous pictures.
(1536x1024 1946K) (500x333 30K)	This looks like it must be the Sulphur train station. :-)
(1536x1024 2001K) (500x333 27K)	Justin looks around the old town at Sulphur. In the background, the steps in the hills show how extensive the strip mining operation has been here.
(1536x1024 2081K) (500x333 22K)	An intriguing rock formation north of Sulphur.
(1536x1024 1911K) (500x333 21K)	We crossed west of the railroad tracks to take a look around. This picture looks north at the Jackson Range mountains and King Lear Peak.
(1536x1024 1723K) (500x333 16K)	This view looks west at the Black Rock Range mountains, across the east arm of the Black Rock Desert.
(1536x1024 1650K) (500x333 18K)	A view to the southwest toward the west arm of the Black Rock Desert. The west arm is the flat part of the lakebed that everyone is most familiar with. Here at Sulphur we're about an hour's dusty drive to the northeast.
(1536x1024 1688K) (500x333 16K)	Justin drives ahead while we explore some of the trails near Sulphur.
(1536x1024 2068K) (500x333 29K)	Before the 6PM deadline to be heading back, we were on our way. We stopped at this point on Jungo Road to get a view to the west of Black Rock Point and the Black Rock Range. (Black Rock Point wasn't visible from Sulphur because we were on the other side of the Black Rock Range from it.)
(1536x1024 2016K) (500x333 24K)	Back at camp, Dave and Sean made burgers for the group.
(1536x1024 2186K) (500x333 32K)	Each evening, we tried contacting Eric Knight KB1EHE, the CSXT Avionics Team leader in Connecticut. We succeeded only on Monday evening. (photo by Justin Rocha KG6SGU)
(1536x1024 2213K) (500x333 30K)	I'm trying to contact Eric KB1EHE on the HF Ham Radio on Tuesday night. (photo by Justin Rocha KG6SGU)

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This page is copyright (c) 2003 Ian Kluft. Images of Paragon Astronautics event and equipment displayed with permission.