Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for Level III/II IVT and ICT activities

The pictures below were taken at KSC during Level III/II payload processing tests in the first two weeks of December 1997. During Level III/II, the racks containing the experiment hardware and Spacelab floor, which were assembled during Level IV processing, are now integrated into the Spacelab module, and are being further tested.

In general, the days are long and grueling, and the nights are short and restless, as the time available for powered testing of the suite of experiments and Spacelab is very precious, and schedules are tight.

Generally, our day would start at 5:30 a.m. with a quick breakfast at Roberto's "Little Havana" restaurant in Cocoa Beach, where the Cuban fare includes "maduros" (fried plantains), and cafe con leche (the Cuban equivalent to a Latte). The drive to KSC from Cocoa Beach takes about a half hour, and involves driving over causeways and past many waterways. Armadillos, egrets, pelicans and alligators are commonly sighted along the way!

We meet at 8:00 in a conference room in the O&C Building for a pre-test briefing, packed with all of the integrated test team to discuss the day's plan for activities. The ARC and JSC PEDs, MMO, KSC and Spacelab are all represented at this briefing. This meeting is mercifully short, and kicks off a full day of on-line testing in the Spacelab, interspersed with supporting activities in offline labs, telecons, shipping and receiving of flight hardware, etc. Most days, we consider ourselves lucky if we are able to leave KSC before 9:00 or 10:00 p.m., so that we can get something to eat and drink, and get some relaxing email and sleep before heading to Little Havana again at 5:30 a.m. the next day!

KSC does not support powered Spacelab testing activities on Sundays, so we usually do get a day to relax / heal on such multi-week trips. On this trip, I was able to reestablish contact with the Ultimate playing friends I met during pre-Level IV experiment integration, and played in a "winter league" game with them. I also relaxed at Playa Linda beach for a couple of hours and went shore fishing with IPT Lead Brad Berch and friend Sam, and then headed to Orlando's Citrus Bowl to see perennial rockers, the Rolling Stones on their "opening farewell tour" called "Bridges to Babylon." We do have our fun in the Space program!

	KSC Level IV Experiment Integration Engineers Sue Hutchinson (left) and Stephanie Stilson confer "off-the-net" with the customer (ARC / NASDA) representatives during the ICT.
	Vestibular Function Experiment Units (VFEUs) 1 and 2 powered up in the Spacelab module during ICT. On-orbit, each of these will house 2 Oyster Toadfish in individual Fish Packages (FPs) as part of the E088 Experiment.
	Data Recorder (DR) and Data Interface Unit (DIU) powered up in the Spacelab module during ICT. These process, transmit and record the neural impulse data which will be transmitted via infrared telemetry from the Toadfish specimens in VFEU1 and VFEU2. Also shown is the GB Control Unit, controller of the BOTEX Incubator (cricket habitat) for the ARC payload (bottom), and the Video Interface Panel (VIP; top blue panel), an MMO-provided payload front-end interface to Spacelab video systems.
	Spacelab module on the Level III/II test stand in the O&C Building highbay (cleanroom with very high overhead clearance for Shuttle payloads processing, including Spacelabs). Technicians and crew members don "bunny suits" before entering the module to maintain clean conditions through all ground processing.
	KSC Level IV Fluid Engineer Schonda Rodriguez in the Spacelab module while performing online FP and VFEU secondary loop servicing. Shown in the background is the extended ARC General Purpose Work Station (GPWS), a facility used for many of the ARC experiments aboard Neurolab / STS-90.
	This view of Spacelab rack 10 shows much of the NASDA and DARA hardware used for the Aquatics VFEU / E088 and Neurobiology BOTEX / E089 experiments.

Astronaut Dr. Jay Buckey (Payload Specialist) in the Spacelab module in front of rack 10 communicating with KSC test team while performing VFEU deactivation during Level III/II Interface Compatibility Test (ICT). Like everyone in the Spacelab module during ground processing in the O&C Building at KSC, Jay is wearing a clean room "Bunny Suit" with a hairnet to keep the module free of contamination.

Brad Berch (Neurolab ARC IPT Lead), Neil Yorio (KSC Hangar L / Dynamac) and myself pause for a "photo opportunity" during a Spacelab light level measurement and spectral analysis test needed for the E132 / Neuronal Plasticity experiment during the Level III/II ICT. See Brad's journal for more details on this.

See some images from previous visits during the Level IV testing timeframe