Glider launch successful following months of work

The long-awaited launch of the RU27 Slocum Glider transpired before the eyes of students and faculty alike through video yesterday in the Coastal Ocean Observation Laboratory Room inside the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences on the Cook Campus.
Following the RU17 launched in May that did not reach Europe, the RU27 will be the first robotic device to make a transatlantic crossing if it successfully reaches Spain.
The 10 University undergraduate students of the Atlantic Crossing group put months of work into getting it ready for launch and will assist faculty members in monitoring its progress to Europe.
“The first challenge we face is getting it out to the Gulf Stream, and the second challenge is staying in the Gulf Stream,” said Faculty Adviser Josh Kohut. “It’s nerve wracking until they get it in the Gulf Stream … once we’re in it, it’s much easier to navigate.”
At 6 a.m., the boat team that included Cook Campus Dean Rick Ludescher and Physical Oceanography Professor Scott Glenn left the University for Tuckerton, N.J.
The team brought the glider out into the Atlantic Ocean by boat and the group who stayed behind in the COOL Room monitored their activity via speakerphone, as several University and community members watched the launch and information surround it on a dozen screens.
“One of the hardest things, as far as engineering goes, is just trying to maximize our battery life considering it’s such a long voyage,” said Dave Kaminsky, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences sophomore, who will be handling satellite data. “We had to tweak our batteries a lot, and not only do we have to try and fit as many batteries as we can in, it also depends on their placement, because we have to have the glider properly balanced.”
In the center of the COOL Room, Bio-Optical Oceanography Professor Oscar Schofield and Research Programmer John Kerfoot monitored the progress of the glider and maintained telephone contact with Ludescher. Kohut stood by them, explaining their activities to the crowd that filled the room.
The four student pilots who operated the vessel from the COOL Room included Kaminsky, Emily Rogalsky, Shannon Harrison and Dakota Goldinger, who was not present.
During an April 9 presentation, the students explained the glider pilots will navigate from within the confines of the COOL Room, as the RU27 is an unmanned vehicle.
With all of the challenges facing the glider, all those involved both on the boat and in the COOL Room were relieved during the launch. As they were about to place the glider into the water, Ludescher could be heard via speakerphone as he shouted to his shipmates.
“Let’s group hug! Let’s get a group hug, everybody!” Ludescher said.
After the camera was lowered into the water and the lens cap was taken off at about 12 p.m., Ludescher announced the successful launch of the glider, causing the audience in the COOL Room to applaud.
“She is in. The RU27 is in the water,” Ludescher said.
Rogalsky explained that they are hoping the RU27 will reach Spain in about eight months, but there is no way to know for sure how long the journey will take. Those interested in tracking the glider’s progress can do so by reading the students’ blogs on their Web site at rucool.marine.rutgers.edu/atlantic.
“It’s just such a relief. There’s been so much going on all the time,” Rogalsky said. “Now we can concentrate on other work.”
Rogalsky said last year when they launched the RU17, an eddy had been conveniently located to spin it into its desired location, but the RU27 will have to swim to the Gulf Stream without that natural assistance.
“When we deployed RU17, we got right into the Gulf Stream. We really didn’t have to do much work,” Rogalsky said. “I think it’s going to take us a little bit longer [with the RU27]. During the Gulf Stream, it’s not that difficult to pilot the glider, because the current pushes it where it needs to go. Once we get to the eddy field, it will be a little bit more work.”
The RU17 was deployed on May 21, 2008, said Public Relations Specialist Ken Branson. Although it set a distance record at 5,700 kilometers, the RU17 did not make it all the way to Europe.
“RU17 had a leak. We’re not really sure what happened, and we’ll never know, but it had a really fast leak,” said Harrison, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences sophomore. “[For the RU27] we’ve changed a lot of things, like the CTD on the side of it. The sampling device, is now reinforced, it’s sturdier … We also have a bio-fouling coating on it, and bio-fouling paint, so that should help with corrosion on the glider.”
The Atlantic Crossing Group students are enrolled in the Atlantic Crossing class, offered by the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

1 comments

Sharice Richardson, Assistant Dean

Wed Apr 29 2009 21:22

Congratulations to the team on a successful launch!

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