At the end of our trip to Minden, all of us got the opportunity to go up in the air and experience flight for ourselves! Ms. Manfre went up in an experimental plane with Perlan developer Greg: 

Conducting pre-flight checks to make sure the plane is in good working condition. 

Up in the air! 

Ms. Imhoff and Mrs. Craven opted to take a glider flight: 

Strapping in to the aircraft.

Up in the air! 

In addition to our interview with the airport supervisor, we also got the chance to talk to some awesome people on the Perlan Project. The first interview we got was one with Col. Payne, who is the head pilot: 

Perlan Project team member Doug talks about the importance of school for people who want to be pilots: 

One of the coolest parts of being in Minden is talking to a wide variety of people who work in different parts of aviation. We've talked to pilots, both of gliders and of regular airplanes, engineers, mechanics, and other who work hard to make the Perlan fly! We also have met some other people in aviation as well. In honor of Career Day, we decided to interview a variety of different people who work in aviation. Below is a clip of an interview with Minden Airport Operations Supervisor Chris Johnson. He explains what he does here at the Minden Airport: 

Whew! Yesterday was a busy day. We had to get all of the cubes completely ready for launch and packed away so that they could be tested this morning. The three of us spent the morning inventorying everything, creating a packing list for when the cubes are sent to Argentina, and editing the runbook. We also got the chance to watch some gliders taking off and landing on the runway. Take a look below! ​

Here’s a picture of Ms. Manfre, Ms. Imhoff, Mrs. Craven, and Mr. Murphy on the runway, watching gliders take off and land:  ​

The runway in Minden is a beautiful, busy place. One of the reasons why so many gliders can fly in Minden is because the surrounding mountains provide thermals. Thermals are a currant of warm air rising upwards. The gliders use thermals to go really, really high up in the air! ​

We were even invited to climb inside the cockpit of one of the gliders. It was small, but the glider pilots all assured us that it is very comfortable. ​

It was certainly an adventure! Now, we are off to finalize packing details so the cubs can be ready for launch in Minden and in Argentina! 

When we arrived, we learned more about what we'd be up to for the next couple of days. Check it out below: 

One of the things that surprised us most about the Perlan 2 was how HUGE the wings on the glider were- 85 feet!  ​

Here's the cockpit of the Perlan 2 glider: 

Interior of the cockpit: 

 We also got a chance to test out the flight simulator! In order to prepare for their world record breaking flight, Perlan pilots need to practice. We got an inside look at their practice space. Ms. Manfre climbed inside to give it a go! 

We're spending this afternoon finalizing writing the procedures for the cubesat. Every cubesat needs to have a formal procedure, or set of directions, written for the "Runbook," which is a book that details the procedure for every cubesat. This helps the team know how to put the cubesats together, how to plug them in, and how to collect data for them so that every experiment works the way it is supposed to. We will also be taking inventory of all the cubesats that arrived from Argentina, and making sure that they are ready for flight. We are also fixing some of the broken cubesats, 3-D printing last minute items, and logging our activities for Teachers in Space.