We kicked off this month with a teleconference with NASA for our PDR. We were able to review with the members in charge of the USIP program everything we have planned for our project and the months leading up to it.
Allyson putting the finishing touches on the ESU.
We have finished the storage unit (ESU) and will soon begin testing its stability. The ESU, although will not experience 9 G’s, must be able to withstand 9 G’s. Brad has moved into machining pieces for the payloads with the assistance of Allyson and other students in the Center for Microgravity Research lab. Allyson also finsihed cutting the PVC tubs which will hold each of the payload on the ESU while one is on top for testing.The 3D printing is also well underway and almost done, according to Kelly.
Brad working away in the machine shop.
Chris and Sam have been working on the back-lighting and camera set up. Allyson stepped in to help make sure that the cameras could be attached to the top of the ESU properly and the back-lighting would function well with the optics. Chris finished his research on spring and the force needed to move each of the balls at the desired speeds and Addie will be ordering the springs soon. Now that the spring research is done, Chris is moving into testing the roughness and testable variables of the balls that will be launched.
Kelly will be testing, with the help of others on the team, the payload tubes to see if a vacuum will be possible as well as if the JSC1 and quartz sand will float up or stick to the bottom. We are quickly noting potential obstacles, testing, and moving forward accordingly.
We are on schedule with testing and building. We are expected to have all the payloads done by April 4th (this Friday), done with testing and ready May 1, and getting on our flight in late July. NASA reported to us that they approve of our schedule and they do not foresee any problems.