Saturday we did a test fit of a structural rib on the Ascender 100. The ribs along with a leading edge tube changes the circular cross section of the airship into an elliptical one.
The rib was a little off. We’re now going back over the numbers to see where we went wrong. We’ll have a new test rib made for another test in about a week.
It was a really honor to be there signing books and talking to folks. I still have goosebumps. On the first day they set me up just under Spaceship One and the Spirit of St. Louis.
On day two I was at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center, the annex by the airport. There is a risk that it all can go to your head. A eight year old boy came to my rescue. He walked up to the table, looked me in the eye and said, “That’ll never work”, turned around and walked off. I smiled, being firmly put in my place and enjoyed the rest of the day.
The next day I did a book signing at NASA HQ. I’m still so weirded out by everything I can’t begin to tell you. However, friends there is a bright ray of light there. It came from the folks at the NASA HQ Library. They are the true unsung heroes of that place. More on that later.
JP will be at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. this Saturday and Sunday, October 18 and 19. Saturday he will be signing copies of his book “Floating to Space” at the National Mall building. Sunday he’ll be doing the same at the Smithsonian’s other building, The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport.
Stop by and say Hi!
It’s early and the gang’s not here yet. Here’s some pics from the last couple of weeks.
Building up a Highrack for testing.
Rebuilding an old rocket launch gondola.
It’s more hunting for the GPS antenna glitch. Today had been one of minor change, two hour test run, repeat. The vehicle has been out in the parking lot all day. A pile of sand bags have been keeping it from blowing away in the high winds we’ve been having.
A one quarter rib pattern is finished, (Ascender 100). We only need the quarter pattern to start cutting fabric however we need to complete the other three quarters of the pattern to true up the rib panels as we assemble them.
The Away 28 crew was here today measuring and reviewing components. A group of student engineers from Cal State University Sacramento are using the upgraded Away 28 mission as a project.
Enough for today, I’m tired and heading out.
We still have not been able to replicate the satellite drop out we saw on Away 35. Everyday the test rig is powered up and we fly a simulated mission for three hours. All of the big problems have been ruled out. The hunt is now on for something subtle. On the plus side our GPS antenna knowledge has gotten a big boost.
Last night I felt like I was in an old Land of the Giants TV episode. We are drawing a 18 foot wide ellipse on the floor. Big paper, big straight edges and a huge string “compass”.
We are starting to build the ribs for the Ascender 100. They are elliptical air beam structures. This follows on to our earlier air beam work, http://www.jpaerospace.com/whatsnewjan-feb-mar07.html
The air beam rib is 18 feet wide and seven feet tall. Our printer don’t handle paper that size, hence the drafting on paper rolls on the floor. We got the axis and the first ellipse layout out last night. We should be ready to cut fabric by the end of Saturday.
We assembled a mock up balloon launch vehicle. It’s could actually fly, it just made from rather beat up parts from previous missions. We then mounted the controller and a backup tracking system on it in the exact positions they were on Away 35. we can now start chasing the GPS antenna issue we saw on Away 35.
We also built up a shop ground station. A lot of old gear was pressed once more into service. The tricky part was building the cables to connect it to the newer stuff. The manuals were of dubious help. When the old manuals were written the new stuff (and their protocols) didn’t exist. The writers of the new manuals never thought anyone would be hooking their pretty new boxes to the klugie ancient things we have laying around the shop.
We made a great airship motor controllers tester unit that flew on Away 35. It had a little motor and prop, and was packed full of sensors. It has the same plugs and connector as the big airship motor systems. In flight the controller doesn’t know the difference between it and a 2hp motor driving a 2 meter blade. It worked great on the Away 35 mission, however it was squished flat on landing. It took a team member a full day, but it’s now all healed.