{"id":18848,"date":"2017-08-03T19:47:21","date_gmt":"2017-08-03T11:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/as-solar-eclipse-approaches-seattles-space-sisters-prepare-for-their-most-ambitious-launch-yet\/"},"modified":"2017-08-03T19:47:21","modified_gmt":"2017-08-03T11:47:21","slug":"as-solar-eclipse-approaches-seattles-space-sisters-prepare-for-their-most-ambitious-launch-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/as-solar-eclipse-approaches-seattles-space-sisters-prepare-for-their-most-ambitious-launch-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"As solar eclipse approaches, Seattle\u2019s Space Sisters prepare for their most ambitious launch yet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"Inside the Loki Lego Launcher Workshop\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gleI-VVlykk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Most famous spacecraft are born inside sprawling, high-tech facilities, but the Loki Lego Launcher that brought 10-year-old Kimberly and 12-year old Rebecca Yeung to fame was made right in their garage workshop.<\/p>\n<p>The Yeung sisters gained national attention after successfully launching two homemade balloons to the edge of space, and meeting former President Barack Obama at the White House Science Fair. Now they\u2019re at it again \u2014 building the Loki Lego Launcher 3.0, this time working with NASA and other citizen scientists to study the Aug. 21 solar eclipse.<\/p>\n<p>But before heading down to Glendo, Wyo., along the path of totality, the girls have a lot of work to do. I caught up with them at their Seattle home, where they work on the launcher between camps and other summer activities.<\/p>\n<p>When I arrived, I found their task list on the workbench. First on the list? \u201cPrepare Loki and the Lego minifigure.\u201d Sure enough, R2-D2 and Rey, the Loki Lego Launcher\u2019s former passengers, were sitting on the table next to their soon-to-be successor.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_352957\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-352957\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-352957\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0899-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0899-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0899-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0899-1260x840.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-352957\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three Lego minifigures sit on the workbench inside the Yeung sisters\u2019 garage-turned-workshop. (GeekWire Photo \/ Chelsey Ballarte)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The girls set up a poll on their website to let their fans choose which mini figure to send into the eclipse. The contenders were Amelia Earhart, Hermione Granger and Merida from Disney\u2019s Brave.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmelia Earhart won with 176 votes,\u201d Kimberly said. \u201cAnd it was very largely in her favor,\u201d Rebecca added. On her journey, the Amelia Earhart mini figure will be holding a custom map that shows the real Earhart\u2019s flight path.<\/p>\n<p>The girls then did a test run of their battery-operated Eagle flight computer and checked the test data in their dad Winston\u2019s computer.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_352960\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-352960\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-352960 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0887-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0887-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0887-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0887-1260x840.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-352960\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The flight computer aboard the Loki Lego Launcher.(GeekWire Photo \/ Chelsey Ballarte)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As with any pre-launch preparations, the girls hit a few speed bumps trying to record GPS data, but after a few adjustments, the computer was in the clear and locked onto a satellite.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt recognizes the GPS, temperature pressure sensor and the voltage current sensor, which is exactly what we want,\u201d Rebecca said.<\/p>\n<p>The next thing on the to-do list was testing the solar panels, which the Yeung sisters accomplished by moving the Loki Lego Launcher out into the sun and back into the cover of their workshop. Data showed the system was fully operational.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a really noticeable difference from when it was in the shade and when it was in the sun, which is going to be great in the path of totality,\u201d Rebecca said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_352976\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-352976\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-352976 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-02-at-1.17.12-PM-630x357.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"357\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-02-at-1.17.12-PM-630x357.png 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-02-at-1.17.12-PM.png 765w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-352976\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rebecca (left) and Kimberly (right) work on the Loki Lego Launcher. (GeekWire Photo \/ Chelsey Ballarte)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rebecca had learned about the eclipse at school and thought it would be an interesting time to create the Loki Lego Launcher 3.0. Then they learned that NASA had already started gathering citizen scientists for the Eclipse Ballooning Project, so they teamed up with the Montana Space Grant Consortium to capture footage of the eclipse from above and send bacteria samples into the stratosphere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe thought it was really cool that we had the same idea as the people from NASA,\u201d Rebecca said.<\/p>\n<p>The Yeungs headed up to the balcony to test the parachute. Despite being on the second floor, the parachute\u2019s long cords hung pretty close to the ground, but the sisters improvised and made themselves taller with the help of cushions from a balcony chair.<\/p>\n<p>Showing a positive attitude in the face of challenges, both Kimberly and Rebecca were all smiles when, test after test, the wind kept the parachute from opening properly. But after adding some weight to the bottom, the bright orange parachute and gently landed on the driveway below. \u201cIt took a lot of tries,\u201d Kimberly said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_352968\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-352968\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-352968\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0905-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0905-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0905-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_0905-1260x840.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-352968\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kimberly Yeung studies their mission binder to decide what to do next. (GeekWire Photo \/ Chelsey Ballarte)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the coming weeks, the Yeung sisters plan on testing their SPOT GPS tracker, and once everything is configured, weigh their payload and make flight predictions.<\/p>\n<p>As with any launch group, the \u201cYeungstuff Space Program,\u201d as they call it, requires an incredible amount of teamwork and collaboration, something Kimberly and Rebecca excel at.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the day they worked together through all disagreements on how to move forward. Their father Winston only intervened to guide them through their problem solving. \u201cWhat\u2019s the problem that you\u2019re trying to solve?\u201d he asked the sisters. \u201cWhy is that important?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Yeung family workshop is just a small taste of the facilities Rebecca and Kimberly have been to. Following the success of their other ballooning missions, they were invited to tour&nbsp;NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, Vulcan Aerospace and the labs at University of Washington.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s certainly recommended to see the total solar eclipse in person, but if cloudy weather blocks the view, you can watch a live stream&nbsp;from the University of Montana that will alternate among the view from the Loki Lego Launcher and other weather balloons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most famous spacecraft are born inside sprawling, high-tech facilities, but the Loki Lego Launcher that brought 10-year-old Kimberly and 12-year old Rebecca Yeung to fame was made right in their garage workshop. The Yeung sisters gained national attention after successfully launching two homemade balloons to the edge of space, and meeting former President Barack Obama [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5349,1409,5337,5348,5338,5340],"class_list":["post-18848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amelia-earhart","tag-eclipse","tag-kimberly-yeung","tag-loki-lego-launcher","tag-rebecca-yeung","tag-yeungstuff-space-program"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18848"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18848\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}