It's safe to stop by my office again!

It's been one month since my last status message, when the experiment test team and I had last powered up Neurolab experiments. No worries though; the rust hadn't set in yet.

The long awaited Spacelab/Orbiter IVT finally got underway on Monday afternoon with the Spacelab installed within Columbia's payload bay at Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) #3. Experiment activities, originally scheduled for 7:00 AM on Tuesday, got started around 10:30 AM due to various delays (minor Spacelab problems, tornado warning evacuation, etc) in the around-the-clock test schedule. For a change, we finished within about 15 minutes of my prediction of 9 planned hours of activities (I can't take all the credit - I had help on this prediction from the Psychic Friends' Network).

We powered up all four microcomputers and the Rack Controller and verified they were receiving timing signals from the orbiter's master timing unit (MTU). We performed a maintenance procedure on a spectrometer analyzer and some gas bottles to verify they were still ready for flight. We performed a maintenance run on the two refrigerator/freezer (R/F) units and in parallel verified 5 signals to orbiter multiplexer/demultiplexer (MDM) interfaces for each unit. I am actually still awaiting the results of the data calculated from breakout box voltages to compare them to the MDM data, to be 100% certain this is complete. But from my cursory examination of the MDM data, the values look realistic in comparison to previous R/F data. When this looks OK, I will buy off the two open steps I left to verify this interface.

We powered up both Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF) racks to verify our T-0 interfaces through the orbiter and a temperature MDM signal for each rack. We will use these interfaces for our pre-launch monitoring of the units during launch countdown. We verified commanding for high power, low power, and very low power modes for both racks. We also powered up the biotelemetry system to test our software load procedure for it, which we will be using during launch countdown.

Finally, we powered up the Vestibular Function Experiment Unit (VFEU) and verified MDM commanding and talkbacks for the data recorder (DR) as well as the four pieces of T-0 telemetry for the fish packages, through the orbiter interface. An interim problem report (IPR) was taken during the MDM commanding to the DR but it was a data bus configuration problem in no way related to the experiment hardware or software. The Spacelab console team helped us work through this in the Launch Control Center (LCC), and they are addressing the closure, which I believe is going to be an explained condition, due to the test configuration. The data interface unit (DIU) and DR also performed flawlessly (a first during Neurolab testing!), and we will now be able to close the two VFEU problem reports (PRs) we left open after Level III/II processing.

We took quite a few deviations from our planned procedures but not as many as I feared. And as a matter of fact, all our deviations are turned in at this point due to the work of our efficient representative in the firing room during the test (me!). We had the test team spread between three buildings for this test: some were in the orbiter at OPF #3; some in the user room of the O&C building looking at telemetry; and I was at the LCC working with the Spacelab team and monitoring the software we will be using in pre-launch activities. Most importantly, we took no new experiment PRs in the course of the day's activities.

Remaining experiment test activities are now limited to MVAK activities at the pad, starting with the L-10 day MVAK. MVAK stands for Module Vertical Access Kit. This is the system we use for late loading of experiment subjects and hardware into the Spacelab module while it is in a vertical orientation inside the orbiter on the launch pad. MVAK activities typically conclude around 30 hours before launch, so it is very critical to understand all the activities in detail and plan and practice them before the actual implementation.

Now that most of our testing activities to prepare for launch are behind us, it's safe for people to stop by my office again. The completion of this test has taken a big load off my shoulders. Shew!

Tracy