Thursday, March 8: Meeting the DC-9, trouble with GPS

The Flyin’ Lions’ first day began early, battling the fog to reach base at about 7:15 a.m. As we walked into the hangar, we saw the huge DC-9 that is used for the program.

After check-in, we sat at our designated table with a sign bearing our name and project title. We each got badges and a handbook. After most of the teams had arrived, there were introductions by the main people in charge, giving us basic information about the next week and a half. Once introductions were over, we pulled the van up to the gate and unloaded the experiment into the hangar.

Unfortunately, according to strict rules, we aren’t allowed to use all of the tools that we brought down. We ran into many issues throughout the morning as we proceeded to put it together. A power source was not available that would fit our cables, we needed straps to secure the Langmuir probe sourcemeter to the structure and we couldn’t properly align the plates in the chamber with our equipment. Tthese were among the problems we encountered. For lunch we went to a Mexican restaurant with the University of Southern California team.

We discovered the uselessness of our electronic navigation system when traveling locally, spending a good amount of time looking for the restaurant. The USC team is really nice and fun to hang out with. After lunch we had to go to a briefing.

On our way to the room we saw a superguppy transporter plane out on the airfield. In our briefing we were given some information about flying and the schedule for the next week. People asked questions such as what you should eat the day you fly. The session was definitely informative.

We continued to work through the afternoon, completing the Faraday cage and pumping down the chamber to test effectiveness. Everyone had to leave the hangar by 4:30 so we returned to our room to get ready for dinner. Slightly dressed up, we departed for dinner with the other teams, Reduced Gravity staff, co-op students and a Boeing employee. After being taken the long route by our electronic navigation system and facing traffic, we finally arrived. The restaurant was pretty and the food was delicious. We ended up talking more with the USC team. Thus ended our first day, very long, yet very exciting.