FUSE Satellite Status Report

Report #2
Star Date: Sept. 14, 1998

The FUSE satellite has now successfully completed vibration and acoustic testing at NASA/GSFC. Data from "liveness" tests, taken after each vibration series, is currently being examined to determine whether any changes to the satellite occurred during these tests. A functional test of the instrument and spacecraft should be completed today or tomorrow.

The "first motion" and "flash illumination" tests of the solar arrays have also been completed. There is some concern about the magnitude of the motion of the arrays during the first motion test, and this is being examined closely. The arrays have now been removed from the spacecraft as the satellite finishes preparations for transfer to the thermal-vacuum chamber at NASA/GSFC.

Among the activities scheduled for the upcoming week are an Instrument Baseline Activities Test, in which a simulated observation is commanded from the Satellite Control Center on the JHU campus, and additional work on software scripts that will be used for the Comprehensive Performance Tests during the next few months.

Reported by: Scott Friedman

Photo: FUSE at NASA/GSFC.
(Click on photo to see enlarged version.)