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Highlights of recent developments on the MiniSShot Project
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- As predicted, weather at the launch site on Feb.7th was rainy and
windy, clouds ceiling at about 500 feet (150 m.) bearing out the
earlier decision to cancel the launch. In the days leading up the
planned launch event, Rick Maschek provided a daily weather report
including winds aloft, as shown in the following table:
07-FEB
ALT FT DIR SPD TMP
5000 308 24 0
10000 345 15 -7
15000 318 24 -17
20000 340 24 -29
25000 333 28 -42
30000 300 58 -44
35000 292 73 -46
40000 285 83 -45
45000 284 81 -51
50000 284 64 -57
Altitudes are mean sea level
Wind direction is true degrees, speed is in knots
Temperature is in degrees Celsius.
Based on those wind speeds and descent rates, touchdown was calculated
to occur over 21,000 feet (6400 metres) from the launch pad.
- Peter Kocalka had planned to attend the launch, and came to California
nevertheless (was unable to change travel dates) from Slovak Republic.
Rick Maschek was kind enough to take Peter on a site seeing tour of the
Mojave area, as well as hosting him at his home. Places planned to
visit were Calico Ghost Town (1880s silver mining old west town in the
desert), Death Valley, sand dunes and an extinct volcano that has some
underground lava tubes. Rain may have dampened some of those plans, more
information will be forthcoming. Rick did report that Peter was kicking
his butt in chess. A huge debt of thanks goes out to Rick and wife
Barbara for their hospitality.
Peter (in photo) and Rick stopped to visit NASA's converted B-52 for
hauling X-15s and lifting bodies:
http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc02127a.jpg
Videoclip taken during return drive from the FAR test site:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXdpatW2wsw
- Chris King continued, over the week, with ground testing of the
avionics suite. Chris reported four issues to date:
"First, the GPS messages do not appear in the MC flash memory. Second,
the radio beacon range diminished unexpectedly. Third, the missing
ability to communicate with the MC is a problem. Lastly the testing time
being lengthy draws down the batteries. Using LiPolys, if the voltage
drops too low the battery is ruined. Recommend plans for external power
need to be added for launch prep to keep the batteries fresh."
"Unfortunately one of the avionics bulkheads blocks access to the MC
COM0 interface. Interfacing with a PC to erase the MC flash is necessary
prior to launch. The issue was resolved by breaking-out a new RS232
harness on the back side of the card. After doing so it was found that
the GPS messages were not recorded in the flash contents.
Troubleshooting is on-going however at this time it appears to be an
issue with the MC. I was able to directly wire the GPS to a PC and
observe its output successfully. Thus the GPS appears not to be the
problem. This also allowed me to confirm it was wired to the MC correctly."
"The range of both RF beacons was found to be reduced after modification
to install in the tip of the avionics bay. Troubleshooting has found
that a wire was broken in one, and the power transistor burnt out in the
other. New transistors have been ordered for both. I will replace the
transistor in each. The wire broke due to the elimination of a connector
to save space. The coax cable failed under the stress of the tight
routing. I suspect the other overheated due to running at too high a
power output and prolonged testing."
"All other systems appear to be functioning. I have yet to test for
successful de-commutation of the TM data via RF link. I have heard the
audible signal but the packet program is not yet installed and running
on my PC.
Correcting the GPS appears to be the main concern. It may require
replacement of the MC or its software or troubleshooting hands-on by Hans."
- Richard has completed painting of the MiniSShot airframe and nosecone:
http://sugarshot.org/downloads/ms_008a.jpg
(a portion of the aft airframe was left bare for fins attachment)
- The initial filing of Sugar Shot to Space as a non-profit corporation
took place over the weekend utilizing a screen-sharing session between
Richard and Sam Grado.
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Donations are urgently needed to fund the Non-Profit Organization
application
process. We need your support. http://www.sugarshot.org/sponsors.html#Donors
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Project
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