WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR WEEK ENDING 15 OCTOBER 1999:
STANFORD HIGHLIGHT
GP-B successfully completed connection to the NASA IONET last week. Both
the GP-B Mission Operations Center (GMOC) at Stanford and LMMS'S Integrated
Test Facility (ITF) are presently connected to the 'open' side of the
IONET. As a preliminary step in GP-B's first Operations Simulation,
scheduled for later this month, we were able to issue commands from the
GMOC to the ITF and receive and process simulated data via the IONET.
Support from Jeff Wade, Karl Allmendinger and others made this
accomplishment possible.
The data analysis group held a productive science advisory committee (SAC)
meeting last week. The SAC (headed by Clifford Will) is comprised of well
respected scientists outside of the Stanford GP-B community. Some of the
issues discussed at the meeting were the test and hardware status, the
calibration and verification plan, and mission success criteria. GP-B
speakers included Sasha Buchman, Francis Everitt, Micheal Heifetz, Mac
Keiser, Bill Reeve, Alex Silbergleit, and John Turneaure.
Photo: Jeff Wade and Karl Allmendinger working together in the Stanford Ground Station Mission Operations Center.
SPACE VEHICLE HIGHLIGHT
The GP-B Solar Array Release Mechanism (SARM) protoqualification unit has
completed random vibration and is currently undergoing thermal-vacuum
testing in LMMS building 102.
Photo: LMMS engineer Lisa Rienecker supervising the SARM thermal-vacuum testing in
LMMS building 102.