[img]http://www.ilslaunch.com/assets/Images/Media/ASTRA-1M-Blog/58-End-of-Camel-ride-bloga1.jpg[/img] Yesterday, October 14, the propellant team loaded the hydrazine fuel onto the SC. This operation is the second half of the propellant load. It marks the completion of the propellant loading phase of SC preps. Kudos to all the ASTRA 1M teams for an excellent job! Everything went smoothly and according to plan. If anything was to be said about the day, it would be “uneventful.” But an “uneventful” day during fueling is a great day, and that is exactly how we want operations to continue! Because the propellant loading is a hazardous operation, the building was of course cleared of all non-essential personnel. Once again the team had the great fortune of being able to return to the Soyuz Launch site, this time to the pad. Yes, only 2 days after the manned launch we were able to visit the launch pad. Several of us actually walked up the same stairs as the astronauts/cosmonauts did on Sunday (no rocket of course). Thank you, KhSC, for taking such great care of us. During our stay here in Baikonur the normal form of transportation is bus, van, walking or bicycle. However, this afternoon we had the pleasure of a true Kazakh experience… the camel! I think we all prefer the camel.