Hi,
Here are the minutes of our meeting yesterday -- please just reply with (or let me know) any corrections -- thanks!:
Phoning in: Arnold Gaertner (NRC-INMS), Susana Deustua (STScI), Cordell Grant (UTIAS-SFL), Karun Thanjavur (UVic), Max Fagin (Dartmouth & Harvard), Yorke Brown (Dartmouth & Harvard), Keith Vanderlinde (Toronto)
The new laser modules are presently being fabricated at World Star in Toronto, and Yorke is sending two of the fiber splitters (the ZDF-13061's from Ocean Optics) up to World Star so that they can mount and align them to the lasers. World Star should have them ready to send to UVic in at most a couple weeks, and then we'll promptly send them over to Dartmouth, so they should be ready to fly in New Hampshire by, cross fingers, the middle of this month. Karun, together with Spencer, and with thanks to Max for initial drawings, is working on designing the portable box for pre- and post-flight calibration, as well as some rough near-field goniometric calibration checks here at UVic. Arnold is gathering materials together for goniometric calibrations at NRC-INMS. There is definitely no rush on the precision goniometric calibration end of things, however, since we've noticed over the past few weeks that the interior white coat (LabSphere "Duraflect") is not perfectly uniform in the two spheres that we have -- they will serve us just fine for our flights this spring, but we'll almost certainly want to get new and better spheres later this summer.
Max and Yorke just returned from a rooftop test drop of a parafoil -- a parachute with some steering capability that we could use to help avoid our payload ending up at the top of trees after flights, as it presently tends to do -- and possibly even steer it right near a recovery crew. This will be an extremely nice addition when ready -- and of course when we're sure it would have zero chance of malfunctioning and causing the payload to fall very rapidly! The shutter of the SBIG camera mounted on the Meade LX200 did not function very well in the cold during the last mountaintop-to-mountaintop test, so Yorke will likely send that back to the manufacturer and get the spare/duplicate camera up from Harvard. Things are otherwise progressing at Dartmouth -- they should be ready to fly when the lasers arrive there, and especially when Yorke finishes teaching at the end of this month.
Cordell recently returned from the incredibly successful launch in India this past week and is ready to move forward with nanosat work. Please, as always! -- post comments on his draft ICD as well as his CAD drawings.
On computing/website, things fortunately appear pretty stable. As usual, let Chris Tooley [ctooley@uvic.ca] and me know if you see any issues that should be fixed anywhere, or also of course feel free to log in and change them yourself anytime. Chris, after doing such an absolutely fantastic job with our site, is moving on to another job this coming week, but will still be able to answer questions, and we'll also be getting additional support for our site soon.
On upcoming grant applications, we have just begun to start writing the DND-NSERC grant application, and I'll be interfacing with several of you regarding text contributions and what we want to put into it in the upcoming weeks, before we send it around more widely.
In microwave news, Keith is working on setting up his lab, and has hired a pair of summer undergraduates to help out with work on microwave payload development this summer.
In other business, we should submit abstracts to 1) the STScI calibration workshop (Apr. 8-11), registration due March 8; 2) the CALCON conference at Utah State (Aug. 19-22), abstracts due March 21; and 3) the AMOS conference on Maui (Sep. 10-13), abstracts due April 15, ASAP.
That's all I remember. Please send things I forgot. Next meeting on Thurs., Mar. 14, at the regular 11:00 Eastern time.
cheers, thanks all!
justin
On Thu, 28 Feb 2013 02:26:45 GMT, Justin Albert wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Telecon tomorrow (Thursday Feb. 28) at our regular time of 11:00 am
> Eastern time (8 am Pacific, 17.00 European). Discussion items include:
> status of new laser modules order, preparation for the next flight
> control board, goniometric calibration, pre- and post-flight
> calibration, nanosat design, website, preparation for upcoming grant
> applications (e.g. DND-NSERC), and flight plans for this winter and
> spring. A reminder of the CSA project timeline is attached.
>
> Here's the dial-in info: If you are calling in from Canada or U.S.:
> 1. Dial Toll-Free Number: 866-740-1260 (U.S. & Canada)
> 2. Enter 7-digit access code: 5082741 followed by the #
>
> If you are calling in from elsewhere:
> 1. To locate International Toll-Free Numbers go to
> http://www.readytalk.com/intl (enter 7-digit access code 5082741)
> 2. Dial toll free number from web link
> 3. Enter Passcode: Enter 7-digit ACCESS CODE: 5082741 followed by the #
>
> Here's the tentative agenda:
> I) Ongoing work at Dartmouth -- preparation for next payload and flights in coming months
> II) New lasers order, fiber splitters, pre- and post-flight calibration, and goniometric calibrations
> III) Flight plans this winter and spring
> IV) Nanosat design: post or send comments on Cordell's ICD (and CAD drawings)
> V) Computing & website
> VI) Upcoming grant applications -- DND-NSERC status
> VII) AOB
>
> Talk to you all tomorrow!
> justin
>
> Attachment:
> http://projectaltair.org/HyperNews/get/AUX/2012/11/12/18.02-43361-Schedule-20120702_hqp.pdf
>