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January 2nd, 2008

SCIFER 2 (Sounding of the Cleft Ion Fountain Energization Region Two) Tuesday January 2, 2008 Update

This is second update for SCIFER 2 collaborators and friends participating in the SCIFER 2 campaign. If you do not wish to be included in these emails, please ask to be removed from future mailings.

Breaking news:

The first hot count was held on Wednesday January 2, 2008 with the window opening at 0600 UT. High winds at Andenes prevented the launcher from being elevated. Avalanche danger at Longyearbyen prevented the telemetry tracking crew from reaching their stations. The window was closed at 0810 UT. The next count down begins at 0300 UT (0400 Norway time). Science station time is 0330 UT (0430 Norway time) at UNIS IPY room. A decision will be made whether to stay in town or to proceed to the KHO Auroral Observatory. The forecast tomorrow is for snow and colder temperatures.

Space Weather Conditions

The space weather conditions are unchanged. The solar wind velocity is currently 300 km/s and the density is 1/cm^3. An active region on the sun is just rotating into view and we expect it to be geoeffective in 4-6

days. Current Weather Conditions:

Longyearbyen: Temperature 4.9 C (40.8 F) Wind chill -8.1 C (-17 F), wind speed 10 m/s (23 mph) Overcast and raining.

Andenes: Temperature 1 C (34 F), wind speed 20 m/s, mix of cloud and sun EISCAT: winds are 100 km/hr

Rocket/Payload status: The payload is mounted on the launcher and is operating nominally.

Local color: It continues to rain in Longyearbyen on top of about 1.5 m of snow making for extremely slippery conditions. From our backup science operations room at UNIS we saw the snow plow do a 540 degree spin and leave the road. Attached is a picture of the payload.





Scientist locations on January 2, 2008:
Paul Kintner Longyearbyen
Erik Lundberg Lonyearbyen (after 1:55 PM)
Mark Lessard Lonyearbyen (after 1:55 PM)
Kristina Lynch Andenes
Meghan Mella Andenes


Phone numbers for science launch operations

Backup Science Center at UNIS, Longyearbyen 79 02 64 48

KHO Auroral Observatory 79 02 64 70 or 71

EISCAT 79 02 12 36

CUTLASS Ops 44-116-252-3520