WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR WEEK ENDING 25 APRIL 2003:
SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED GYROSCOPE SPIN UP SIMULATION
The flight operations team along with the payload subsystem engineers and mission director successfully completed the gyroscope spin up simulation
run out of the MOC. The simulation included a spin up of a gyroscope to 1 Hz, followed by a spin up of the same gyroscope to 10 Hz, and
finally full speed at 150 Hz. As planned, the team enabled in real time the spin up process. A real time anomaly was successfully identified,
diagnosed, and re-planned on very short notice. This simulation is a major step towards readiness for a full team effort on simulation 6.
PREPARATIONS CONTINUE FOR GP-B SPACE VEHICLE THERMAL VACUUM TEST
Preparations continued on the space vehicle for the upcoming thermal vacuum test. The lamps and heaters have been installed on to the vehicle. The test
team is currently verifying the plumbing to support operations. The software team has performed FQT runs on the vehicle, the functional A test, and dry runs
of the software (72 hour) test.
Photo: The GP-B spacecraft.