2/3/01 - Daily 1:15
pm all-hands meetings have continued under the leadership of Darrell
Winfield All days have been one and _-shift, with work planned
on 2/3 and 2/4 Lab work by PI teams continues beyond one shift
as each team determines it is appropriate
Ten of the experiment teams have been on-site at sometime during the
week Final rack-component installations and final adjustments
are continuing The ICATS go-no go flight test was successfully
completed on 2/1 with John Barrick and Ali Aknan aboard to insure that
needed TRACE P functionalities were demonstrated The most
significant deficiency was the absence of the video track plot
Other minor discrepancies were noted and are expected to be corrected
prior to the RVSM certification flight on Feb 5 Six work tasks
remain for various sheet metal and related work for the PIs and plane
A teleconference Hong Kong/Okinawa Site Visit debrief was held with
WFF and LaRC on 1/26 In Hong Kong plane servicing and parking
arrangements have been finalized A lab space in the terminal
which restricts the use of hazardous materials to water or less was
all that was available convenient to the hotel We currently are
determining which PIs can use the terminal lab space and which must
use their hazardous materials at a remote lab only accessible by bus
The bus will operate every half-hour and also provide access to the
planes and storage of boat-shipped equipment
A power-up of all experiments was successfully completed on 1/27
The only significant finding was that some loads would need to be
rebalanced, as is routine Also, it was emphasized that some
instruments which needed to minimize time without power would need to
be moved up in the power-up sequence to minimize their time without
power
The plane was rolled-out on 1/28 for weight and balance and
alignment of the orientation sensor platform The satellite
phone was successfully demonstrated
The Engineering Check Flight was successfully completed in the morning
of 2/1 The only significant finding was the presence of
vibration from the Apel inlet This is probably due to uneven
vortex shedding from the inlet Further diagnoses were conducted
during the 2/1 ICATS and 2/2 Pilot Proficiency Flight Tests
Laser cals were scheduled to start 2/2, but DIAL was not ready to
start because of time expended in modifying its power-handling
electronics to prevent tripping the plane circuit breakers at
power-up Laser cals are now expected to begin 2/5 and be
complete well before the planned completion date of 2/10, because
extra days were planned for laser cals
Arrangements for an ISP have been made at Kona-East
Cargo for the C-130 is beginning to be gathered, weighed and
labeled All planned cargo for the C-130 originating at DFRC has been
reviewed and several discrepancies noted It appears now that
the DFRC cargo may weigh a bit less than expected
It had been learned that the EAFB field is closed on Sunday, so that
return from Kona-East on a Sunday(4/8) may not be appropriate
The Base Commander may consider special conditions for opening the
field on Sunday Sunday closings are a recent change of plans
The field is likewise closed on Saturdays after 1600 The
options would be to return two days early on a Friday or one day later
on a Monday A decision is expected during the next week