Here are minutes of our meeting on Thursday -- please just reply with (or let me know) any corrections -- thanks!:
Phoning in: Houman Hakima and Cordell Grant (UTIAS-SFL), Yorke Brown (Dartmouth/Harvard), Karun Thanjavur (UVic), Arnold Gaertner (NRC-INMS), and Max Fagin (Purdue)
Image analysis was held up a little bit because of data access issues: we went over the monthly data transfer limits on Yorke's website, which had been the only way to get the images, but now we're in November and the data is accessible again, and also copied to the projectaltair site: http://projectaltair.org/page/flight_data , http://projectaltair.org/page/sample_images , as well as on Yorke's site http://yorkebrown.net/calibrator/data.htm . We'll be analyzing them over the next two weeks.
The payload was retrieved from the top of the 90' tree in Thetford by an arborist company (chippersinc.com) for a very good price (~$300). The only tiny bit of damage was to one of the shroud lines for the parafoil, which Yorke and his new student have easily repaired. The plan is to now do a daylight flight (mostly to observe parafoil operation, while we're still analyzing data from the last flight) when the weather is good, or even another nighttime observation flight if the weather happens to be perfect for that. It appears we will be going to Mt. Hopkins in the spring rather than in December -- it will be good to get more bugs worked out and to make sure that we have good science data with the real laser diode-based source before making that trip. But we will be able to do several flights in NH in the meantime.
Laboratory calibration-wise, Karun's setup for goniometric measurements of the integrating sphere at UVic is working, and he has put images, and a movie of the process, at the bottom of the integrating sphere page: http://projectaltair.org/page/integrating_sphere . The light-tight shroud and a couple of adapters for the sphere are presently being fabricated. Following data-taking at the UVic setup, we will then send the sphere to Arnold, who will then be ready for some first tests with the source and integrating sphere. Karun is also working on both Modtran-based simulation of ALTAIR images.
At UTIAS-SFL, Houman has finished the design for the new multicolour laser module, and I just need to finish up the DND-NSERC grant request with Houman's drawings in them. He is working on a drawing with the module integrated into the balloon payload, but that is difficult because the payload files are SolidWorks whereas UTIAS-SFL uses SolidEdge. We can live without such a drawing though, especially if it is very difficult. Houman and Cordell will start to work again on the rest of the nanosat design.
On computing/website, things appear stable -- please just either post a note or let me know if any fixes or changes are needed.
On upcoming grant applications, the DND-NSERC grant proposal with World Star Tech is complete, modulo a couple little details, and it will be sent out shortly. There is also a CFI (Canada Foundation for Innovation) competition later this year and early next year, which we have submitted a UVic-internal LoI for. This CFI competition is mainly intended for large projects (the expected budgets for proposals in this CFI program are between $2.5M and $10M), and our prospective larger-project partner is the PFS spectrometer project for the Subaru Telescope, and our LoI was jointly-submitted with theirs. Yorke is also talking with the JPL folks again regarding upcoming NASA grant opportunities.
That's all I remember, please send things I forgot. Next telecon in 2 weeks, on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 2:30 pm Eastern time.
cheers, thanks all! justin
On Wed, 30 Oct 2013 23:53:12 GMT, Justin Albert wrote:
> Hi, > > Telecon tomorrow (Halloween) at our regular time of 2:30 pm Eastern time > (11:30 am Pacific, 20.30 European). Discussion items include: data > analysis of the Oct. 12 flight images, upcoming flights and plans, > goniometric calibration, pre- and post-flight calibration, nanosat and > new multicolour laser module design, computing/website, upcoming grant > applications, and recap of operation plans. 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) Data analysis of the Oct. 12 flight (and access to the data) > II) Upcoming flights and other operational work > III) Pre- and post-flight calibration and goniometric calibrations > IV) Mt. Hopkins: decision time for December > V) Nanosat, and new multicolour laser module, design > VI) Computing/website > VII) Upcoming grant application status > VIII) AOB > > Talk to you all tomorrow! > justin > > Attachments: > http://projectaltair.org/HyperNews/get/AUX/2012/11/12/18.02-43361-Schedule-20120702_hqp.pdf >