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Just one of those days...
May. 20th, 2010 10:35 pmMy day-long "standby" status was interrupted by a request to provide French support at 2 pm for a group visiting Hall 111 at the integration facility. Hall 111 is where the Proton-M launch vehicle - the 57-m long launcher that will fling nearly 7 metric tons of electronics and stationkeeping propellant into space forever - undergoes final integration with its payload.
I stepped outside at about 1:40 pm to go sit in the arbor in front of the hotel and wait for my 2 pm transportation. The ground was wet and the air was cool, mostly due to water evaporation from one of the showers that occur from time to time.
The gig normally would last about 30 minutes, after which I would go back to the hotel area and take care of laundry and other sundries, but events aligned themselves in such a way to bring me back to the hotel - and the middle of a propellant team party - at very nearly 8:30 pm.
The nature of the business is such that I can't, in good conscience, relate all of the events of the day. Indeed, I may not be aware of all of the factors that played a role in the day's proceedings. However, the collocation "Chinese fire drill" did cross my mind several times (with no disrespect intended either for those who are ethnically Chinese or any persons who participate in fire drills).
The bottom line may be characterized by the phrase "what has been lost has been found", and everything is in position to kick off what may perhaps be the longest day of the campaign tomorrow, which is the first day of so-called "joint operations."
The first order of business will be to wheel the fully loaded spacecraft out of the propellant loading room into the hall where the satellite will be mated to an adapter system. This system resembles a truncated cone (a cone with the apex cut off), and provides both a mechanical link and an electrical link between the spacecraft and the so-called upper stage.
The upper stage in this case is something called the Breeze-M, which is manufactured by the Krunichev Space Center. The purpose of the upper stage is to boost the satellite, via a sequence of precisely timed engine burns, into an orbit from which the latter can be eased into its slot in the geosynchronous array of communications satellites that provide a broad spectrum of services to us groundlings.
Once the satellite is securely attached to the adapter system, the combined "stack" (consisting of the satellite and the adapter) will be placed on top of the Breeze-M and integrated into what will become the so-called orbital unit.
But I get ahead of myself.
It had rained some more while I had been at the integration facility, and the air had cooled to the point where you needed to put on a sweater if you wanted to remain outside for any length of time. I went upstairs to get one when we returned to the hotel area, and then joined the prop team party, which was already under way. I had a marvelous t-bone steak, a bottle of mediocre Czech beer (yeah, I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but there you have it), a plate of salads and appetizers, and an Irish coffee to top it all off.
Everyone has been harping on how tomorrow is going to be one long day, and since I am scheduled to be on duty during the second half of the day (and into the early evening), I am going to take this harping seriously and get some serious shuteye in tonight.
Cheers...
I stepped outside at about 1:40 pm to go sit in the arbor in front of the hotel and wait for my 2 pm transportation. The ground was wet and the air was cool, mostly due to water evaporation from one of the showers that occur from time to time.
The gig normally would last about 30 minutes, after which I would go back to the hotel area and take care of laundry and other sundries, but events aligned themselves in such a way to bring me back to the hotel - and the middle of a propellant team party - at very nearly 8:30 pm.
The nature of the business is such that I can't, in good conscience, relate all of the events of the day. Indeed, I may not be aware of all of the factors that played a role in the day's proceedings. However, the collocation "Chinese fire drill" did cross my mind several times (with no disrespect intended either for those who are ethnically Chinese or any persons who participate in fire drills).
The bottom line may be characterized by the phrase "what has been lost has been found", and everything is in position to kick off what may perhaps be the longest day of the campaign tomorrow, which is the first day of so-called "joint operations."
The first order of business will be to wheel the fully loaded spacecraft out of the propellant loading room into the hall where the satellite will be mated to an adapter system. This system resembles a truncated cone (a cone with the apex cut off), and provides both a mechanical link and an electrical link between the spacecraft and the so-called upper stage.
The upper stage in this case is something called the Breeze-M, which is manufactured by the Krunichev Space Center. The purpose of the upper stage is to boost the satellite, via a sequence of precisely timed engine burns, into an orbit from which the latter can be eased into its slot in the geosynchronous array of communications satellites that provide a broad spectrum of services to us groundlings.
Once the satellite is securely attached to the adapter system, the combined "stack" (consisting of the satellite and the adapter) will be placed on top of the Breeze-M and integrated into what will become the so-called orbital unit.
But I get ahead of myself.
It had rained some more while I had been at the integration facility, and the air had cooled to the point where you needed to put on a sweater if you wanted to remain outside for any length of time. I went upstairs to get one when we returned to the hotel area, and then joined the prop team party, which was already under way. I had a marvelous t-bone steak, a bottle of mediocre Czech beer (yeah, I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but there you have it), a plate of salads and appetizers, and an Irish coffee to top it all off.
Everyone has been harping on how tomorrow is going to be one long day, and since I am scheduled to be on duty during the second half of the day (and into the early evening), I am going to take this harping seriously and get some serious shuteye in tonight.
Cheers...
