During November of 1999 I was part of a select group of researchers that participated in a NASA/US Air Force mission to study the Leonid meteor shower. It was an exciting 11 days, which ultimately led to many new discoveries in the study of meteors, astrobiology, planetary science, and upper atmospheric research.
For me, the experience began on September 14, 1999, when a friend e-mailed a handful of experienced meteor observers and said there were openings for amateur astronomers on the NASA/Air Force Leonid MAC mission which would occur in November. This mission was one of the many that NASA funds each year to study the Earth and space. In this case, it was to be a mission that would fly scientists to altitudes of 40,000 feet to study the Leonid meteor shower. It was called Leonid MAC 99, with the "MAC" standing for Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign.
Now, to participate in a NASA mission would certainly be a dream-come-true, but, as a married man with children, there were other considerations! I immediately made a phone call to my wife. I explained the situation in as calm a fashion as possible and then waited for her answer. After a few moments, I heard her make the comment that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and then she said, "Go for it!" She went on to say the kids would not be a problem, since on the nights she works, we had several nearby relatives who would be more than willing to watch the kids for us. I immediately sent an e-mail to the Principle Investigator of the mission, Peter Jenniskens.
The next day I received a rather enthusiastic email from Peter. He briefly explained what would be expected of everyone on the mission and then he said I needed to send my full name, date of birth, social security number, and passport number to Captain Jeff Lampe of the 452nd Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base. Interestingly, I put myself through nearly two weeks of worrying for nothing. Peter had said he was not going to announce the final list of participants until the end of September, yet his first letter said that in my letter to Lampe I should note, "I recommended you be added to list." Later discussions with Peter reminded me of that statement and he said I was definitely on the team at that time.
After the official announcement, I got really excited. It was going to happen! My next worry was my passport. I didn't have one. I applied for one the week after I received Peter's letter and was told it could take six weeks. For me that was cutting things too close, but, as it turned out, I received it in exactly three weeks…plenty of time to spare. In the meantime, Peter had sent numerous other letters out to everyone explaining what we needed to do to prepare for the flight. Basically, it said pack light and buy polypropylene long johns since the planes would be kept cool because of the equipment. Oh yes. There was one more thing. During our trips we should never cross a red line as that would authorize security to take "deadly force." That was pretty exciting to know!
By the way, I was to be part of the Flux Measurement team. Basically we were counting meteors and providing real-time data to the computers to not only aid other on-board experiments, but to aid researchers in other parts of the world as well.October was the longest month of my life. I was packed by mid-month and every day just seemed to drag by--no matter how busy I kept myself at work. I was glad I only had to go through a week and a half of November!
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