Folks,

Our 3rd attempt to recover ATIC succeeded. Phil, Derek and I left Willie field at about 10:00 and arrived at ATIC at 11:30 in 25 - 30 knot winds and blowing snow.

We recovered the data disk and the SIP and loaded them onto the plane first. The internals of ATIC looked like they were fully intact. No damage or loose parts were visible.

The  remainder of ATIC was disassembled basically like I had described it before.

We returned directly to Willie field and arrived there at about 17:00. Aside from the SIP and the hard disk we recovered all of the detectors and 95% of the electronics and the rotator. Only  the boards mounted on T2 and the SIP deck items were left behind. Aside of the electronics all external and internal structure, the carbon targets, the insulation, the bottom Kevlar shell and the PV arrays are also still there. See attached pics.

The next recovery flight is scheduled for tomorrow. It looks like the weather is holding.

Joachim Isbert

What remains after the first recovery flight. 

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