Thermal Characterisation Testing Completed

The thermal characterisation testing in vacuum has been successfully completed. The heater was bonded to the structure on 7th March, along with thermocouples to measure the temperature variation before and after the interface. The vacuum test was performed in ambient temperatures and has produced results which closely match predictions.

Thermal Characterisation Testing Scheduled

Scott Morgan and the platform team have been putting in a lot of work to prepare for Thermal Characterisation Testing of the cubesat hardware for the beginning of March. This testing is planned to commence on March 4th. A small vacuum chamber has been identified and the testing equipment is currently being sourced. The aim of the testing is to increase the knowledge of the thermal conductive coupling between one panel of the cubesat and another. This is very important for predicting the thermal gradients between the cubesat external panels facing the sun and those in shadow.

Communications team visit to Stevenage

Daniel Ludlow & Tim Mead from the Communications team have travelled up to Stevenage from Portsmouth for a day visit.
They have been carrying out a number of tasks:
- Transporting the cubesat hardware for platform testing in Stevenage
- Installation of the new computers and software in the Stevenage ground station
- Assessing the performance of the terminal node controller
- Comparing the ground station set-up in Stevenage to that in Portsmouth.
The computer installations have progressed well. "It was really useful to see the Stevenage ground station set-up and also to meet the Stevenage guys in person" says Daniel, Communications key area lead. The plan is to have near-identical set-ups in both ground stations to improve the ground station operation efficiency.