2/3/01 - Daily 1:15 pm all-hands meetings have continued
under the leadership of Darrell Winfield All days have been
one and _-shift, with work planned on 2/3 and 2/4 Lab work
by PI teams continues beyond one shift as each team determines
it is appropriate
Ten of the experiment teams have been on-site at sometime during the week Final
rack-component installations and final adjustments are continuing The ICATS
go-no go flight test was successfully completed on 2/1 with John Barrick and
Ali Aknan aboard to insure that needed TRACE P functionalities were demonstrated The
most significant deficiency was the absence of the video track plot Other
minor discrepancies were noted and are expected to be corrected prior to the
RVSM certification flight on Feb 5 Six work tasks remain for various sheet
metal and related work for the PIs and plane
A teleconference Hong Kong/Okinawa Site Visit debrief was held with WFF and LaRC
on 1/26 In Hong Kong plane servicing and parking arrangements have been
finalized A lab space in the terminal which restricts the use of hazardous
materials to water or less was all that was available convenient to the hotel We
currently are determining which PIs can use the terminal lab space and which
must use their hazardous materials at a remote lab only accessible by bus The
bus will operate every half-hour and also provide access to the planes and storage
of boat-shipped equipment
A power-up of all experiments was successfully completed on 1/27 The only
significant finding was that some loads would need to be rebalanced, as is routine Also,
it was emphasized that some instruments which needed to minimize time without
power would need to be moved up in the power-up sequence to minimize their time
without power
The plane was rolled-out on 1/28 for weight and balance and alignment
of the orientation sensor platform The satellite phone was successfully
demonstrated
The Engineering Check Flight was successfully completed in the morning of 2/1 The
only significant finding was the presence of vibration from the Apel inlet This
is probably due to uneven vortex shedding from the inlet Further diagnoses
were conducted during the 2/1 ICATS and 2/2 Pilot Proficiency Flight Tests
Laser cals were scheduled to start 2/2, but DIAL was not ready
to start because of time expended in modifying its power-handling
electronics to prevent tripping the plane circuit breakers at power-up Laser
cals are now expected to begin 2/5 and be complete well before
the planned completion date of 2/10, because extra days were planned
for laser cals
Arrangements for an ISP have been made at Kona-East
Cargo for the C-130 is beginning to be gathered, weighed and labeled All
planned cargo for the C-130 originating at DFRC has been reviewed and several
discrepancies noted It appears now that the DFRC cargo may weigh a bit
less than expected
It had been learned that the EAFB field is closed on Sunday, so that return
from Kona-East on a Sunday(4/8) may not be appropriate The Base Commander
may consider special conditions for opening the field on Sunday Sunday
closings are a recent change of plans The field is likewise closed on
Saturdays after 1600 The options would be to return two days early on
a Friday or one day later on a Monday A decision is expected during the
next week