WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR WEEK ENDING 27 DECEMBER 2002:
POST THERMAL VACUUM OPERATIONS
The team has been reviewing thermal vacuum test data and has performed additional tests to better understand some aspects of the performance
of the space vehicle. Correlation of the test data to the thermal model and a test anomaly associated with the PDU are in-work. The science team,
using thermal vacuum test data, has demonstrated that the expected SRE bias error is approximately 8X better than the requirement. The space
vehicle test team is now focusing on the post-environments tests to confirm full vehicle functionality. These tests will be performed in parallel with
payload testing at the space vehicle level and verification testing of the newly installed version of the flight software.
Photo: The spacecraft outside of the thermal vacuum chamber in the test area.