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NEWS | May 17, 2012

PALS to Grand Junction

Eni Njoku
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

PALS left JPL by truck a little before 10:00 am on Friday April 27, beginning its journey by road to Grand Junction, Colorado.

Friday April 27

The PALS instrument was packed up by Barron and Seth and shipped by truck to Grand Junction, Colorado to be installed on the Twin Otter aircraft assigned to the SMAPVEX12 campaign. This is the first leg of the PALS journey to Winnipeg, the site of the field campaign.

Monday April 30

Seth and William Chun arrived in Grand Junction to meet the moving van and direct unloading. The Twin Otter aircraft N821AR was waiting with tundra tires and larger brakes installed. The PALS racks were placed in the aircraft and cabling and verification began. Seth met our pilot, Richard Webb.

May 16-18

Instrument checkout and flight readiness reviews complete. Test flights underway with PALS on board. Aircraft take-offs, landings, practice maneuvers. Flight to Lake Powell. Thanks for the photos, Seth!

N821AR — Photos 2-4: Moving van arrived at the Twin Otter facility. William and Seth had photo ops.

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