I imagine that very few people in the world can say that they helped to assemble an Aerosonde!

Our group had the wonderful and unique opportunity to have our Field Assignment in Virginia at NASA Wallops Flight Facility.  We arrived at Wallops on Monday. Immediately after arrival, we were led into the hangar and were given a crash course on assembling the Aerosonde! The Argonauts and I put the wings together, threaded the screws, and connected different wires. What an awesome experience! I imagine very few people in the world can say they helped assemble an Aerosonde! In addition to putting it all together, we also learned how to calibrate the sondes, and how to attach them to the drone. The sondes are instruments used to collect the weather data on the Aerosonde. The most exciting moment at Wallops had to be the actual launch and flight of the Aerosonde. The Student Argonauts and I each had role to play.

 

The most exciting moment at Wallops had to be the actual launch and flight of the Aerosonde.

I was able to ride in the launch truck. The engine of the Aerosonde was fired up. The noise inside the cab was incredibly loud. I could feel the thrumming in my body. We started down the runway slowly. When the clearance was given, the driver accelerated to 50 miles an hour, and then increased to 55 miles per hour. The launch signal was given. The driver then began to decelerate. There was a very loud thump as the Aerosonde lifted off from the top of the truck and went airborne. The thumping that we heard was the lift pad lifting off the truck through the pull of the drone and then bouncing back onto the truck.

As I peered out and up from the front window of the launch truck, I could see the Aerosonde launch and go soaring off into its flight. It was a wonderful and amazing sight. The flight was interesting, and there were times when we could clearly see the Aerosonde high above us. Other times, it was out of sight.

I was able to ride in the launch truck.

 

When it was time for the landing, the Aerosonde spiraled lower, lower, and lower until it landed. There is no landing gear, so I was amazed at how smoothly it landed. The landing is called a slide landing, so it just slid gently on the runway until it came to a stop. We were all jumping up and down when it landed safely.

 

I felt so privileged and honored to have the opportunity to participate in this mission. It is truly something that I will never forget.