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Joint operations, day 1...
May. 21st, 2010 11:55 pmI was the on-call interpreter today, and was also assigned a time slot for face-to-face support at the integration facility that ran from just after lunch to 7 pm, and it was a pretty busy gig, all things considered, even if quite a bit of my work day involved activities akin to herding cats.
It was the first day of so-called joint operations. Up until this morning, the satellite manufacturer's personnel did their thing with the spacecraft and the Russians did their thing with the facility's infrastructure and with the launch vehicle in preparation for this day. With the advent of joint operations, everyone starts interacting with everyone else and the role of the interpreter acquires a new, somewhat more urgent significance.
Somewhere around 7 am, the spacecraft was taken out of the propellant loading area into Hall 101, where it was lifted off its stand and placed on top of the adapter system. Then the Swedish engineers who arrived on yesterday's charter carefully mounted something called a clampband (that, as the name implies, clamps the satellite and adapter system together). This band is made of special, insanely high-strength steel that keeps the satellite attached to the adapter system in a "stack" even if said stack is turned into the horizontal position so that the satellite is cantilevered, placing a huge load on the band.
After I left the integration facility for the day, the stack was lifted and placed on top of the Russian-made upper stage (creating an even bigger stack of three items). Various tests are performed at each step of the process, and once the upper stage has been secured to the adapter system and all the tests have been passed, this new stack will be tilted into the horizontal position and encapsulated inside of a fairing.
But all of that will take place tomorrow and will run into the following day. Meanwhile, I need to catch some winks.
Cheers...
It was the first day of so-called joint operations. Up until this morning, the satellite manufacturer's personnel did their thing with the spacecraft and the Russians did their thing with the facility's infrastructure and with the launch vehicle in preparation for this day. With the advent of joint operations, everyone starts interacting with everyone else and the role of the interpreter acquires a new, somewhat more urgent significance.
Somewhere around 7 am, the spacecraft was taken out of the propellant loading area into Hall 101, where it was lifted off its stand and placed on top of the adapter system. Then the Swedish engineers who arrived on yesterday's charter carefully mounted something called a clampband (that, as the name implies, clamps the satellite and adapter system together). This band is made of special, insanely high-strength steel that keeps the satellite attached to the adapter system in a "stack" even if said stack is turned into the horizontal position so that the satellite is cantilevered, placing a huge load on the band.
After I left the integration facility for the day, the stack was lifted and placed on top of the Russian-made upper stage (creating an even bigger stack of three items). Various tests are performed at each step of the process, and once the upper stage has been secured to the adapter system and all the tests have been passed, this new stack will be tilted into the horizontal position and encapsulated inside of a fairing.
But all of that will take place tomorrow and will run into the following day. Meanwhile, I need to catch some winks.
Cheers...
