WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR WEEK ENDING 25 December 1998:
STANFORD HIGHLIGHT
Under the direction of Robert Brumley a fourth science mission
gyroscope has passed all of its commissioning tests. Since a total
of 4 gyroscopes are required for the GP-B mission, this most
recent commissioned gyroscope completes the minimum program
need and thus represents a major program achievement.
The gyroscope testing team responsible for this work included
Robert Brumley, Dave Hipkins, Paul Bayer, Chris Gray, and
Bruce Clarke. Photo: a gyroscope in its housing with cables
attached.
SPACE VEHICLE
HIGHLIGHT
A successful interference test of the Relativity Mission (GP-B)
Global Positioning System (GPS) was performed on December 16 in
LMMS building 251. The test objective was to determine whether
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) transponder
operation through the space vehicle low gain antenna would
cause interference to the on-board GPS system. Using a worst-case
GPS setup and with the TDRS antenna pointing directly at the GPS
antenna, the GPS receiver was still able to track GPS satellites
and calculate position. Photo: Dave Yale (of Stanford University),
Ted Gill (of LMMS) and Awele Ndili (of Stanford University) setting up
TDRS/GPS interference test.