Balloons Lunch
Balloons Lunch refers to the lunch-time break after the launch of a balloon. This lunch time is spent (aside from eating) enthusiastically tracking the balloon during flight -- and usually lasts till the end of the balloon flight. Lunch was always a component of balloons team launches since the inception of the team. However, lunch was forever amended after the 2nd launch of the 2014-2015 academic year, after the team visited a small Vietnamese establishment near the launch site. Current Team Lead Aria Tedjarati and team member Kirill Safin decided to forever impose a mandatory lunch routine of Pho consumption for subsequent launches.
Since the decision to permanently have Pho for lunch, the team has never deviated except in extenuating circumstances (such as a Pho Restaurant with 4 open seats meant to seat the entire team of 25). The team has sometimes driven as much as 20-30 miles (often away from the balloon landing point) for the sole purpose of finding, and eating at, a Pho establishment.