NASA Eclipse Test Balloon Launched in Mitchell, Nebr. (Goes to the Scottsbluff Star-Herald)

NASA scientists and students descended on the City of Mitchell (population 1702) to launch a test balloon for the upcoming total solar eclipse.

NASA and other organisations are planning observation and launches all over Nebraska because the state lacks trees or other obstacles that would interfere with viewing or launches.

MITCHELL — A grassy meadow that once served as an airfield south of Mitchell is an unlikely place for the launch of a NASA mission. But a dozen or so scientists and students gathered there Tuesday morning to test a balloon that will carry tracking equipment high into the western Nebraska skies during August’s solar eclipse.

The team, which worked feverishly to hit a 10:45 a.m. launch time, included college students from South Dakota and a few high school students, including one from Alliance. Their aim was to send up the balloon in time to reach the path of totality — the long band of momentary darkness created by the moon’s shadow — in time to encounter it as it passes over Alliance, more than 60 miles and 100,000 vertical feet away.

(more at the Star-Herald)

Mitchell is about ninety miles from here. I wonder if we’ll see NASA folk here in my village?