Hey All,
While for everyone else this merely an hour longer due to the clocks changing, it has felt like an eternity for the team working on the Challenger mission. At 7:05 this morning, Challenger came to the surface to call in an abort saying there was a problem…
The report it sent back stated the glider had detected a leak in its aft compartment while at depth. Challenger then sat on the surface for hours as the panicked team moved into action and began downloading all files over satellite connection so we could piece together the entire story and figure out what was going on.
Lauren and Chris (TWR) combed through the data after and concluded that on the second down cast of this mornings segment, the glider detected a leak at 940m below the surface (leak is defined as a voltage below 2.0V through the leak detect mechanism). The resolution for the sensor was not too great as it was not being recorded frequently so we do not know when exactly the voltage dropped, but by the time the glider returned to the surface the voltage was back up to above 2.5V. Dave Aragon of Rutgers also looked at the data to see if he could see anything from a different point of view but didn’t see anything suspicious.
Since the data analysis, there have been a number of test missions to see how the glider flies. As of 11pm we have run test missions diving to 30m, 150m, and 500m as we ‘test the waters’ and all have been successful.
Now we must figure out what to do with this glider. It really comes down to either continuing on the epic journey and putting this scare behind us, or taking the glider back to the Azores and pulling it out of the water for a servicing. In the scenario where we go and pull the glider out of the water, a ship would leave from Ponta Delgada on the Island of Sao Miguel, Azores. From Challenger’s current position, it would be about a 175 km trip out to the glider which would take about 9-10 hours making it a very long day going out and back to pick it up.
If we do pull it out of the water for servicing, Challenger still stands with the record as the 3rd longest flight in Rutgers History, which it will undoubtedly get more chances to break as it will still have at least 3 more stints of the Challenger mission: Sao Miguel to La Gomera, Canary Islands (stint 2, blue), La Gomera to Cape Verde (stint 3, green), and Cape Verde to the Americas (stint 4, magenta). If we end up returning to the Azores, it only adds to the history of ocean exploration as these islands have been a crucial stopping point for countless voyages through the ages on long journeys.
We will update tomorrow on how the glider is doing and any decisions made.
Lauren Cooney, Antonio Ramos & Nilsen Strandskov