The Library Family Board of Trustees Bech Tench, Chair Henry Felder, Vice Chair Crystal Dreisbach, Secretary Joe Hewitt Derrick Jordan Paolo Mangiafico Shawn Miller Joyce Sykes Eve Marion, Friends Liaison
Upcoming Board of Trustees Meetings November 21, 2013, South Regional January 16, 2014, Main Library March 20, 2014, East Regional
Friends of the Durham Library Martha Scotford, President Jaime Danehey, Vice President Shayne Goodrum, Treasurer Janet W. Hessling, Secretary Betty Danielson Mary Jane (MJ) Digby Kimberly Gilbert Elizabeth Hayes Arlene Lutenegger Eve Marion Carol Owen Rob Rabb Leah Rutchick Alan B. Teasley André Vann Carol Ann Walters Elsa Woods Angela Zoltners
Durham Library Foundation Phil Hutchings, President Steve Pike, Vice President Bonnie Cox, Treasurer Bessie Carrington, Secretary De (Diane Elizabeth) Cutshaw Dannette Daniels Frances Dyer Pierce Freelon Andrew Hutchings Tom Keller Anne Lloyd Bob Otterbourg Frances Rollin Elisabeth Townsend Beck Tench Board of Trustees Representative Betty Danielson Friends Representative Tammy Baggett, Library Director Best of Friends is published in support of Durham County Library, with primary expenses for printing and distribution paid by the Friends of the Durham Library. The newsletter is produced by the library’s Marketing & Development Division.
2 Best of Friends Fall 2013
First Library in Space
(continued from cover)
The Summer Reading Midpoint Rally, scheduled for July 10 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, offered the best opportunity for the launch. And with the typical Durham spirit of collaboration, the Bulls were happy to let us send a balloon into space from centerfield before the game. The evening of the launch was blustery, and storms had been threatening all day. Undaunted, Casey and the NC Near Space Research launch crew stepped out onto centerfield, counted down from 10 and released the balloon. FLIS was on its way!
out all of its systems. The capsule has yet to be recovered. So DCL had probably become the first library in space (near space starts at 65,000), but we had no proof – no video, no photos, no recovered exploded weather balloon. We had to try again.
But not so fast.
On July 27, on a perfect, sunny morning, the launch crew assembled in a field outside of North Regional Library. FLIS 2 was launched into an almost cloudless sky, and this time rose swiftly up and out of sight.
Loaded down with stickers and live feed video camera equipment, the weather balloon wafted up and to the left, coming close enough to the stadium lights to elicit a collective gasp from the audience. Then it slowly drifted upward into the clouds and headed toward Chapel Hill, where it likely ran into a major storm system.
GPS tracking showed that our library traveled 98,000 feet into the air before the weather balloon burst. The team recovered the capsule less than 50 miles away from the launch site. Although the video camera stopped working at the highest point of the ascent, the digital cameras captured the entire journey.
FLIS fans tracking the capsule’s progress on the website followed as the balloon rose to a height just over 60,000 feet. Then it stopped sending video or GPS signals altogether. We think it got hit by lightning, which shorted
In the end, Durham County Library succeeded in becoming not just the first, but the second library in space. We’ve posted photos and a very cool video of the launch at firstlibraryinspace.org.
PROJECT TEAM Casey Nees, librarian & project lead NC NEAR SPACE RESEARCH: Rodney Radford, technical lead Mike Freeze Chris Gorski Jeff Highsmith Tanner Lovelace Paul Lowell Michael North Raymond Woodward The Durham Bulls Matthew Huff, video launch soundtrack DJ Alez Android, closing credits soundtrack Matthew Clobridge, video editor