Black Rock Desert Blog: days 11-12

Day eleven - 23 July 2010

We took our final air sample before we decided that as it was our last full day on the Playa, we would not be able to obtain meaningful bacterial growth (on the agar plates). The second of the large rockets was to be launched today which was created for Diana's (Lynn's PhD Student) project, however would also be flying Kyle's experiment. Diana's project has the same aims but alternative methods to our project; whereas Kyle's experiment aimed to observe the effects of high energy UV radiation on DNA. The rocket launched straight up with similar issues as ours- yet again the parachutes were not functioning correctly. The booster section went ballistic with enough force to thoroughly dig itself into the ground.

The upper stage, containing Kyle's sample and Diana's device, slammed into the ground and bent the rocket casing. Kyle's sample was lost but Diana's device was recovered mostly intact.

Unfortunately this was our last night in the desert so we made the most of it. The Mavs did another pyrotechnic display and they launched a couple of rockets with flashing nosecones. Mike recovered one of them in his car, blasting "The Final Countdown" out of his windows. We finished the night off with a big game of Mafia and a jog for some reason. We slept outside, under the beautiful stars.

Day twelve - 24 July 2010

On our last day we attempted to leave several times but group photos and an imminent early rocket launch kept us at base camp. Finally we left the harsh wilderness of the desert and many new friends and experiences behind us. Life on the playa (or lack of it) returned to normal and whilst we may not have discovered what life exist in the upper atmosphere, we will never forget our time there.

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