Here are minutes of our meeting on Thursday -- please just reply with, or let me know, any corrections -- thanks!:
Phoning in: Yorke Brown (Dartmouth), Houman Hakima (UTIAS-SFL), Keith Vanderlinde (UToronto)
Flights will be resuming very shortly -- in the next couple weeks, or whenever it warms up a bit, in Hanover (it's -15 C tonight there) -- as Yorke has just finished submitting his grades for the term. Yorke's three research-term undergraduates are working on completing the testing of the new onboard emergency locator beacon, as well as updating the documentation for flight procedures, for our upcoming field campaigns this spring and summer. When weather permits, the plan is still to do another nighttime data-taking flight, as well as a short daytime flight to check parafoil operation.
Laboratory calibration-wise: Arnold (together with Bill Neil, an NRC scientific support staff member) is working on getting goniometric data on the spheres and our sources, and they should be able to complete that soon. Karun has been making good progress on atmospheric modelling using MODTRAN together with calibration star imaging data from Gemini, and will be visiting Stubbs at Harvard this month to continue to make progress.
At UTIAS-SFL, Houman has completed a few more design modifications to the new integrating spheres -- they had to be modified slightly in order to accommodate a Hamamatsu S2281 photodiode -- and he and Cordell are continuing to work on the solid modelling for the nanosat bus, and on the optical path and modelling from the new laser module design through the integrating sphere.
Keith is eagerly awaiting the impending arrival of his Gunn diodes (from John Carlstrom's company) -- they were ordered in November and have a 120 day lead time. His polarization grid is strung and ready, and is very eagerly awaiting source testing with his students early this summer.
On computing/website, things appear stable -- please just either post a note or let me know if any fixes or changes are needed.
Regarding grant applications, we are continuing to make a few final updates to the DND-NSERC project proposal (which I had sent around to a number of people), and are continuing to interface with DND contacts regarding it. I just sent in the yearly progress report for our current FAST grant to CSA this Friday, and CSA is reviewing the FAST application from December (we should hear back on that at around the beginning of April). Chris and Yorke should probably be hearing back on the results of their NFS proposal this month. And Susana is starting to work with a Johns Hopkins engineering professor regarding student balloon flights and a grant application this month -- and we'll interface with her on that.
That's all I remember, please send things that I forgot. Next telecon in two weeks, on Thursday, Mar. 27, at 2:30 pm Eastern time.
cheers, thanks all! justin
On Thu, 13 Mar 2014 04:14:36 GMT, Justin Albert wrote:
> Hi, > > Telecon tomorrow (Mar. 13) at our regular time of 2:30 pm Eastern time > (11:30 am Pacific, 20.30 European). Discussion items include: upcoming > flights, goniometric calibration, pre- and post-flight calibration, > nanosat and new laser module design, computing/website, 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) Upcoming flights and other operational work > II) Pre- and post-flight calibration and goniometric calibrations > III) Flights beyond NH > IV) Nanosat, new integrating spheres, and multicolour laser module designs > V) Computing/website > VI) Grant applications > VII) AOB > > Talk to you all tomorrow, > justin > > Attachments: > http://projectaltair.org/HyperNews/get/AUX/2012/11/12/18.02-43361-Schedule-20120702_hqp.pdf >