This week you will be focusing on programming and sensor interfacing. One of the highlights this week will be for you to interface a sensor with your BalloonSat and write a program to collect data with it.
The Wednesday Science Lecture this week will be given by Dr. Jeff Blackmon. He will be talking about nuclear physics and how all the elements are made. Considering that everything you see around you (including your own body) was once in the interior of a star or in an exploding star, this should be a very interesting talk. Here is Jeff Blackmon's brief resume http://www.phys.lsu.edu/newwebsite/people/blackmon.html
This coming Saturday (June 13) will be our first science facility tour. We will be going to the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center (http://www.marybird.org/) where we will initially have a lecture on medical physics and then have a tour of the facility.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Looking like an excellent summer
Now that we are in the third PACER day the initial (normal) chaos is beginning to settle and all the participants are starting to get into the program. I do have to say that, so far, I am fairly impressed with both teams and this could be the best summer yet!
The Sunday travel went mostly OK, but there were a few bumps. Nedgby got into a problem with the ticket agents arguing about how many bags he needs to check. This discussion when on so long that he missed his flight. Then the agents charged him to reschedule his flight. Consequently, Nedgby didn't get in to BTR until 10 pm. We will need to get to the bottom of this one. In addition, Ashle' Perry was told that the baggage x-ray machines were not working, her bags would need to be hand checked and there wasn't enough time for her to make her flight. They rescheduled her, but did not charge her anything extra.
With these bumps out of the way, the initial program logistics when very well. All participants got their LSU ID cards, set up Campus Federal Credit Union accounts and we managed to get them their stipend checks before noon on Tuesday (so they had something to put into their account). One thing to note for next year is that when we get the LSU ID numbers for the participants we should at the same time request PAWS accounts as well. That had to be done on Monday (Thanks, Doug!) so there was a bit of a delay in getting them access to the wireless network.
This morning we completed SkeeterSat. Everyone managed to get theirs working (eventually) and their temperature sensor calibrated. The SkeeterSat exercize is important as it provides experience following the manual instructions, in circuit assembly, following the manual instructions, circuit troubleshooting, following the manual instructions, desoldering incorrectly installed components, and following the manual instructions. Currently, they are working on their BalloonSat boards which is a more complicated system and critically depends on .... you guessed it .... following the manual instructions.
The Sunday travel went mostly OK, but there were a few bumps. Nedgby got into a problem with the ticket agents arguing about how many bags he needs to check. This discussion when on so long that he missed his flight. Then the agents charged him to reschedule his flight. Consequently, Nedgby didn't get in to BTR until 10 pm. We will need to get to the bottom of this one. In addition, Ashle' Perry was told that the baggage x-ray machines were not working, her bags would need to be hand checked and there wasn't enough time for her to make her flight. They rescheduled her, but did not charge her anything extra.
With these bumps out of the way, the initial program logistics when very well. All participants got their LSU ID cards, set up Campus Federal Credit Union accounts and we managed to get them their stipend checks before noon on Tuesday (so they had something to put into their account). One thing to note for next year is that when we get the LSU ID numbers for the participants we should at the same time request PAWS accounts as well. That had to be done on Monday (Thanks, Doug!) so there was a bit of a delay in getting them access to the wireless network.
This morning we completed SkeeterSat. Everyone managed to get theirs working (eventually) and their temperature sensor calibrated. The SkeeterSat exercize is important as it provides experience following the manual instructions, in circuit assembly, following the manual instructions, circuit troubleshooting, following the manual instructions, desoldering incorrectly installed components, and following the manual instructions. Currently, they are working on their BalloonSat boards which is a more complicated system and critically depends on .... you guessed it .... following the manual instructions.
Monday, June 1, 2009
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