Weary vocal cords...
May. 26th, 2004 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpToday was a pretty active day, work-wise. In the morning, I accompanied some team members into the room where the payload fairing was being prepared to perform what's called a "fit check." (The fairing is the shell that goes around the satellite and upper stage.) A fit check is pretty much self-descriptive: it's a check to make sure that something fits where it belongs. There was a fair amount of discussion during the proceedings; I was there for it all.
In the afternoon, I interpreted for a meeting initiated by the safety engineers regarding yesterday's loading of oxidizer aboard the spacecraft. As seems to be the case in virtually all safety and quality discussions, the meeting seemed to go on forever as every last "i" was dotted and every last "t" crossed. (You can't blame them, really... after all, we're talking about handling stuff that is pretty corrosive when by itself and which actually explodes when it comes into contact with the other propellant component, which is the fuel.)
Tomorrow, I'm slated to go on a trip with team members to a "zone of relaxation," while the spacecraft is loaded with fuel back at the полтинник. The translated name - "zone of relaxation" - awakens a strange image in my mind, my initial impression being a combination of dancing girls from the Arabian Nights - in Technicolor™ - and some horrid black-and-white facility that's a throwback to the heyday of Soviet socialism. However, the place is described as a wilderness recreation area that is being "lent" by the owners (Energia) for use by our team. I'll be sure to take along my camera.
I am developing a facility for falling asleep any time, anywhere. Hopefully, this is not a portent of anything amiss, but simply a reawakening of a skill developed a long time ago.
I've got a chess "appointment" in about 20 minutes.
Cheers...
In the afternoon, I interpreted for a meeting initiated by the safety engineers regarding yesterday's loading of oxidizer aboard the spacecraft. As seems to be the case in virtually all safety and quality discussions, the meeting seemed to go on forever as every last "i" was dotted and every last "t" crossed. (You can't blame them, really... after all, we're talking about handling stuff that is pretty corrosive when by itself and which actually explodes when it comes into contact with the other propellant component, which is the fuel.)
Tomorrow, I'm slated to go on a trip with team members to a "zone of relaxation," while the spacecraft is loaded with fuel back at the полтинник. The translated name - "zone of relaxation" - awakens a strange image in my mind, my initial impression being a combination of dancing girls from the Arabian Nights - in Technicolor™ - and some horrid black-and-white facility that's a throwback to the heyday of Soviet socialism. However, the place is described as a wilderness recreation area that is being "lent" by the owners (Energia) for use by our team. I'll be sure to take along my camera.
I am developing a facility for falling asleep any time, anywhere. Hopefully, this is not a portent of anything amiss, but simply a reawakening of a skill developed a long time ago.
I've got a chess "appointment" in about 20 minutes.
Cheers...
