Research Balloons are Awsome! (and cacti are cool too)

This week was full of rescuing the cacti from sudden downpours, constantly checking the weather in New Mexico, and being amazed at the sheer amount of helium that will be going into the research balloon.

Weekly Update #4

What a week! One minute the sun is shining, the next it is raining cats and dogs! Julius and I were stumped as to whether we should put the samples out in the sun, or hide them from the rain. In the end, we did a bit of both, and we may-or-may-not have run out into a downpour yelling "Save the cactus!".

The first sample seems to be doing the best,

as it is getting steadily greener.

The second sample is still trying to recover from rot.

And the Control cactus is somewhere in-between the two.

Also, Julius and I have been waiting for the research balloon to launch, but so far we have not had any luck. (Annoying rain!) In the meantime, Cubes in Space has been posting some awesome photos of NASA's preparations for launch.

Look at the size of those Helium tanks! We can hardly wait to see the balloon launch, and then see how our experiment survived space travel!

Thank you for reading!

-Edith

So Far, So Good

Weekly Update #3

This week has been relatively uneventful. All of the samples are doing well, and we have started giving them a little bit more water. Also, sometime next week we will move them to a sunnier location.
Make sure to mark your calendars, because the research balloon launch is this Monday! It appears that there will not be a livestream of the launch, but I will keep y'all updated on the experiment's progress.

Thank you for reading!

-Edith

'Twas a dark and rainy week...

Weekly Update #2

Not much happened this week. The weather has been unusually rainy for Texas, but the cacti seem to be doing well. We have been keeping them out of the rain so we can control how much water they are getting. Julius has been great at watering them about 1/8 of a cup of water every other day. (Thank you!)

In other news, according to the CiS website, the balloon launch has been postponed until the 29th. It also looks like there will not be a livestream of the launch.

Thank you for reading!

-Edith

Good Morning, Cactus!

They all look like normal cactus cuttings, but two of them have been to SPACE!

Yesterday, Julius and I put our cactus samples into pots! With the help of  Mr. Ryan C. from our local Lowes, we settled on some special potting soil, and these adorable terra cotta pots!

In our original proposal we had planned to use some soil from the area around the "Mother Cactus," but we amended this plan for several reasons, the main reason being that we have no clue what is in our local soil, and when we send our research to NASA it would be better if we can point them to something that has a well documented composition. That being said, there is another reason. A very scaly, scary, venomous reason.
When Julius and I were packing the cubes in May, we decided to get some extra pictures of the mother cactus for the blog. After a while I looked up from my camera to see Julius nearly step back onto a long tan "thing." That thing promptly MOVED, coiled up under a tree, and started RATTLING. Ah, Texas is just full of friendly critters! Needless to say, we ran one way, and the rattlesnake ran (slithered?) in the other.
After that, Julius, our teacher, and I decided that stomping through tall grass to dig underneath a giant cactus in the middle of the summer was not the best idea I had ever had...

Thank you for reading!

-Edith