WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR WEEK ENDING 16 October 1998:
STANFORD HIGHLIGHT
Under the direction of Dr. Mike Taber, a cryotest of Probe
C and the flight
dewar has been completed. Removal of
the probe from the dewar is now
scheduled for tomorrow
(10/15/98). This cryotest verified the thermal
characteristics of the BPS system. In addition, a check
of all cabling
within the probe was successfully completed.
Next, the probe will be
removed from the dewar so that
integration of the flight payload into the
probe can begin.
Photo: Probe C
SPACE
VEHICLE HIGHLIGHT
The Relativity Mission Thruster Isolation Valve (TIV) has
successfully
completed qualification testing. There will
be sixteen TIVs on the space
vehicle, and they are
operated by ground command. Each TIV shuts off gas
flow
to a Helium thruster in the event of a thruster anomaly.
The first
flight unit TIV has completed fabrication and is
scheduled to begin
acceptance testing this month. Photo:
The Relativity Mission Thruster Isolation Valve Engineering
Team: Hank Hancock, Rose Lalanne, Jason Suchman, and Mark
Molini.