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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2019)
Wednesday, July 17, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon University science project hit snag By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief The course of science 4 like true love 4 never does run smooth. A test flight for a proj- ect measuring electrical conductivity in connection with thunderstorms was to launch via balloon from Sisters Airport last week. The mission was a test flight to ensure success of further flights this summer. The joint effort of the University of Washington Earth and Space Sciences program and DigiPen Institute of Technology had a rough time getting off the ground 4 literally. There were several delays in launching due to techni- cal issues with the 72-pound payload of sensors. Then, when the balloon went up on Wednesday, July 10, it came immediately back down. Sisters resident Steven Peterzen, who has conducted balloon launches for science- related projects all over the world, was conducting the launch. He said that there was an error in the software code that ended the flight. <Instead of having four days to terminate the flight, they had it terminate in four minutes,= Peterzen explained. A second launch attempt on Thursday got the balloon off the ground, but it did not take flight. <It kind of stalled at 500 to 800 feet,= Peterzen said. <It was moving much slower than I9ve been accustomed to seeing over the years.= The mission <did not meet the success criteria,= Peterzen said. But failing to meet suc- cess in a test flight still pro- duces valuable data. <I don9t look at those (aborted flights) as failures,= Peterzen said. <Everybody learned something. How can you fail if you9re learning?= Peterzen is investigating the possibility of a flaw in the second balloon, while the rest of the team will have to evaluate the payload weights, calculations and software. Then they9ll be back for additional missions. The balloon and payload from the second flight were recovered from an open area to the south of Lake Billy Chinook. <They were able to almost drive right up to it,= Peterzen said. Like the Apollo missions of almost exactly 50 years ago that took men to the moon, there are many steps along the way to a success- ful mission. Some of them are mis-steps. All of them require support. Peterzen expressed appre- ciation to the owners and management of Sisters Eagle Airport for making the work in Sisters possible. <They supported that thing at no cost, so far,= Peterzen said. A pilot moved his plane out of his hangar to clear space for the team to work on the payload, and the airport staff provided equipment and ground support as required. <Whatever we needed 4 they never said no,= Peterzen said. MEATS • CHEESES • EATERY • DRINKERY 110 S. SPRUCE ST. | 541-719-1186 OPEN EVERY DAY 9 AM TO 7 PM Projects Small Or Large Start With Our Dream Team of Building Pros GOT QUESTIONS? Lumber • Paint Hardware • Tools • Siding • Doors Windows • Fencing • Decking Plumbing & Electrical Supplies FREE Local Delivery Serving Sisters Since 1976 Hours: M-F 8-5, Sat. 8-4:30, Closed Sundays 440 N. Pine St. • 541-549-8141 • www.hoyts.net PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS A second launch of a sensor for electrical conductivity in connection with thunderstorms had a short flight on Thursday, July 11. 9 Fossil of bone-crushing mammal a first in NW BEND (AP) 4 A fossil jawbone misidentified for 50 years turns out to belong to a bone-crushing mammal and is the first to be found in the Northwest, scientists said. Scientists tell the Bend Bulletin in a story on Friday that the 40-million-year- old fossil discovered at the John Day Fossil Beds in eastern Oregon is from a Harpagolestes. That9s a hoofed mammal that9s a cross between a pig and a hyena. <Imagine a pig that specializes in eating only bones,= said John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Chief Paleontologist Nicholas Famoso. He said scientists pre- viously thought the fossil was from a polar bear-like creature. University of Oregon paleontology student Selina Robson started investi- gating after becoming convinced the fossil was misidentified. <We weren9t expecting her to say: 8This isn9t what you think it is,9= Famoso said. Fossils from the mam- mal have also been found in the Rocky Mountains and Southern California. <They behaved like hye- nas,= Famoso said. <They were running around Oregon being the first animals chew- ing on bones.= The fossil sat for five decades in the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History. The school and national monu- ment are considering put- ting it on display at the museum and making a rep- lica to display at the national monument. Famoso said he wants to examine other fossils in the University of Oregon col- lection to see if they9re also misidentified. <It definitely warrants reviewing some of the speci- mens we already have,= he said. <We need to double check.=