Hey all,
First off, I would just like to announce to everyone that Rutgers has officially purchased the second long duration glider for the purpose of carrying out the Challenger Mission! Because of this, I would like to let everyone know that we will now refer to the glider running the first leg of the Challenger Mission by its original name of Silbo, a name full of honor and history (opposed to the name we had christened it back in late June) here on the blog. This glider has fought long and hard to complete this epic journey and he is now one step closer from reaching the end of the first leg.
So where we left off last, Silbo had run into more complications and had to be pulled out of the water for a second time. After being deployed following the repair to the aft section, the pitch battery had been disconnected leading to a sporadic flight pattern that would be detrimental to our little glider. However, after some an amazing continual effort by Chris DeCollibus and Rayco Moran, Silbo was recovered, fixed and sent back on his way.
After running a number of test dives to confirm he is back to 100%, we have now sent him back on his way. Tomorrow we will update on the conditions and ‘shooting the gap’ as we take proactive measures to navigate some potentially dangerous bathymetry.
Thank you again to our amazing team! Force Wind Sea & Honor
Lauren Cooney, Ben Allsup, Antonio Ramos & Nilsen Strandskov