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There's nothing like having a cool campaign poster, and this one fits the bill:
* * * The nature of working with materials like monomethyl hydrazine (the spacecraft's fuel) is such that once you are actually through filling the fuel tank, you're still far from the point where you can go home for the day. There's a lot of cleanup work to do, after which the hall needs to be checked to make sure there is no fuel vapor floating around, after which the fuel canisters need to be forklifted into a special decontamination room (one that is separate, I might add, from the decontamination room used for the oxidizer).
I made a decision to enter the processing area to see if I could help expedite the process, and it turned out to be a fortunate one. Owing to the need to observe U.S. government regulations, getting the forklift (provided by the Khrunichev team) into the hall with the fuel canisters wasn't as straightforward as one might expect it to be. No matter. In the end, everyone on the prop load team eventually piled into a van at the полтинник at 7:15 pm after a very productive and long (12-hour) day.
There is traditionally a party held upon the completion of propellant loading, and last night was no exception. We had been informed the event would start at 7 pm, with dinner to be served at 8 pm. As our earnest group was running late, we convinced the driver to drop us off at the Proton Club instead of our hotels, so as to miss as little of the party as possible.
I guess someone decided that starting the party before the prop loading team got back would be impolite, so we entered a facility that was empty of all but the food service staff. The good news there was that it afforded the group a clear shot to be first at the bar.
Once everyone else arrived, the party followed the standard course. The main course consisted of baked chicken and a marvelous sausage whose name escapes me but whose recipe is said to be of Ukrainian origin. I quit the proceedings at a little after 9 pm, so as to be able to get something like a reasonable night's sleep in anticipation of my 5:15 am departure on this, the first day of joint operations. I am reliably told that, if you cracked open the window in your room at the Fili last night, you could hear the members of the French team singing far into the night.
Up to now, most of the campaign activity has been on the French side, as they have been prepping the satellite to get it to the point where it is ready to be mated to an adapter and an upper stage (which is supplied by Khrunichev). That point was reached last night, with completion of propellant loading.
This morning, the spacecraft was lifted, placed on a transport vehicle, and moved to the hall where the adapter and the upper stage lie waiting, the result of activities undertaken by the Russians starting a few days ago.
From here on in, the enterprise will involve everyone (including a couple of SAAB engineers who flew in recently from Sweden to handle some delicate work involving the satellite and the adapter). This coming week is going to be a very busy time for all.
Cheers...
I made a decision to enter the processing area to see if I could help expedite the process, and it turned out to be a fortunate one. Owing to the need to observe U.S. government regulations, getting the forklift (provided by the Khrunichev team) into the hall with the fuel canisters wasn't as straightforward as one might expect it to be. No matter. In the end, everyone on the prop load team eventually piled into a van at the полтинник at 7:15 pm after a very productive and long (12-hour) day.
There is traditionally a party held upon the completion of propellant loading, and last night was no exception. We had been informed the event would start at 7 pm, with dinner to be served at 8 pm. As our earnest group was running late, we convinced the driver to drop us off at the Proton Club instead of our hotels, so as to miss as little of the party as possible.
I guess someone decided that starting the party before the prop loading team got back would be impolite, so we entered a facility that was empty of all but the food service staff. The good news there was that it afforded the group a clear shot to be first at the bar.
Once everyone else arrived, the party followed the standard course. The main course consisted of baked chicken and a marvelous sausage whose name escapes me but whose recipe is said to be of Ukrainian origin. I quit the proceedings at a little after 9 pm, so as to be able to get something like a reasonable night's sleep in anticipation of my 5:15 am departure on this, the first day of joint operations. I am reliably told that, if you cracked open the window in your room at the Fili last night, you could hear the members of the French team singing far into the night.
Up to now, most of the campaign activity has been on the French side, as they have been prepping the satellite to get it to the point where it is ready to be mated to an adapter and an upper stage (which is supplied by Khrunichev). That point was reached last night, with completion of propellant loading.
This morning, the spacecraft was lifted, placed on a transport vehicle, and moved to the hall where the adapter and the upper stage lie waiting, the result of activities undertaken by the Russians starting a few days ago.
From here on in, the enterprise will involve everyone (including a couple of SAAB engineers who flew in recently from Sweden to handle some delicate work involving the satellite and the adapter). This coming week is going to be a very busy time for all.
Cheers...
