It's almost time for HASP pre-flight operations and we're slightly stunned that the moment we've been planning for is upon us.

You might be wondering where we've been and what we've been up to.

1. We participated in the solar eclipse. We went to a charming museum in Wears Valley, TN and lucked out that they had parking galore, flush toilets, a shaded amphitheater and almost two minutes of totality.  We paid $12 to enter the historic village on site and were gloriously free from hoards of people during the eclipse. It was wonderful and totally worth the long drive back.

2. Although Munir has been working on a pump solution, we haven't had much we can do on the payload, so we've been working on other side projects and trying to relax and prepare for another year of NASA projects.

Science team has been scrambling because it's suddenly show time for them!

The rest of us are thinking about the future for our second HASP application. A lot of good ideas are floating around. Pun intended? I don't know, man.

3. The balloon business is weather dependent and the weather has been rough. I have rescheduled our flights, at this point, four times and worry I'll have to finagle a 5th. We had a connecting flight in Houston that was cancelled last night and we were concerned that the weather was going to keep the HASP management team grounded in Louisiana. Luckily the Guze's Crew from LSU has made it to Fort Sumner so that, at least, is in hand...so I feel a tiny bit better letting people know our plans as they stand so far.

4. We had a bit of a hiccup earlier this week that seemed like it might ground HASP for the season but the teams conferred and decided unanimously to push ahead with a sub-optimal launch.

So...we're as ready as we're getting!

On Saturday morning Memes, Abandoned, Under Pressure and Morty will arrive in Albuquerque, grab some groceries (cause everything is closed in Fort Sumner on the weekend) and speed to CSBF to add the ogawas and seal up the GOAT. They need to integrate by 5 pm or we don't fly.

Sunday if things are looking good, HASP will be prepared for flight.

Keep an eye on cameras at the https://towerfts.csbf.nasa.gov/flightvideo.htm

These will hopefully have footage of us and will certainly show the launch. Please take screenshots if you see us.

The rest of the team will arrive in Fort Sumner very, very late on Sunday.

Our first launch opportunity is very, very early on Monday. We will try to post if we hear about a launch window.

If we don't launch by Tuesday afternoon...we'll probably miss seeing it live but I plan on dropping to watch it online when it does happen.