Will carts be available for rent. And on on other note, what is the elevation.
The reason I ask is my wife is handicapped. I doubt she'll get her walker thru the salt. So she will be stuck at our shelter.Using your vehicle to recover a rocket is fine. You need to stay outside the range unless the range is open for recovery. As Kevin notes, there is considerable risk in driving too far from the launch site. You will have almost no warning that you are going to break through the salt crust and into the mud. Every year we have big four wheel drive trucks get stuck. Fortunately, it’s been a while since someone had to get the salt cat to pull them out, but even with lots of help, it can take hours to get pulled out.
We will have a small number of golf carts, but they will be used by the launch staff. I believe one enterprising rocketeer will be available to help retrieve rockets for a fee.
The reason I ask is my wife is handicapped. I doubt she'll get her walker thru the salt. So she will be stuck at our shelter.
We’ll work something out. I’ll make sure she gets a ride when she needs it.The reason I ask is my wife is handicapped. I doubt she'll get her walker thru the salt. So she will be stuck at our shelter.
ThanksWe’ll work something out. I’ll make sure she gets a ride when she needs it.
Neal reported to us last night that he went out to the salt and has never seen it so dry. It didn’t even stick to his tires. A lot depends on how much rain we get in the next three weeks, but it might be ideal (but unforgivingly hard if a parachute doesn’t open all the way).In my experience (I've been on the salt flats once), the crust is pretty hard and she'll be able to move around a bit. The biggest challenge is that it sticks to thinks, and being salt, rusts/corrodes them. You'll want to take the time to rinse the walker every evening, so that the axles don't get destroyed.
Yes, I like the dry salt better. It doesn't stick to the bottom of the shoes, either. Northern Utah is terribly hot and dry now. My garden and lawn is not doing well with this weather. Sometimes, July can be a fooler for hot and dry weather. The monsoons come up from the south across Arizona and rain on the Salt Flats towards the end of July. So far, nothing like a monsoon is happening.Neal reported to us last night that he went out to the salt and has never seen it so dry. It didn’t even stick to his tires. A lot depends on how much rain we get in the next three weeks, but it might be ideal (but unforgivingly hard if a parachute doesn’t open all the way).
If you go driving on the salt flats, understand that you do so with risk. There are places where the salt crust thins out, and there's thick mud underneath. If you get stuck, the fee to get your vehicle extracted is not cheap. When I was out there about 10 years ago, I think it was $400, and it may well have gone up since then.
I would also check with the launch organizers before driving beyond the range - they'll know what is and is not permitted.
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