Sunday, October 24, 2010

24 October - Week in review

So I achieved my mini goal Friday and sent the preliminary proposal off to our faculty advisor at 8:00 pm sharp. It's only about 75% complete. Looking back over the NASA specifications, I realized that I missed an entire section that is needed. The outreach plan is missing as well.

Met with a potential team member Friday. She would bring the outreach component to the team. The ideas she shared were super cool and may well prove to be the deciding factor. I'll get that part typed up on Monday.

What's missing from the rest of the proposal is a more difficult nut to crack, I'm afraid.NASA want a stress analysis of all of the experiment components. This is perfectly reasonable, as it helps the people in charge know if your stuff is going to break on pull out. I can figure out stress tolerances of various materials easily enough. My problem is trying to decide how much stress will be exerted on the pressure vessel by the five and a half gallons of water. I'm not even sure how fast the water will be moving.

One of my high school buddies works for Lockheed Martin in Houston doing some of the same stuff I want to grow up to do. I've asked him for help. We'll know if this project is even feasible in a day or so.

The pressure is on now. Proposal is due midnight on Wednesday. The paper copy has to be postmarked by then. I  foresee a trip to the main post office in my future.

Things left to do include:
  • Draw out the experiment
  • Get the outreach plan on paper
  • Figure the stresses involved and make sure they're within allowable limits
  • Proofread and make adjustments based on feedback
  • Respond to and meet with several more potential candidates this week
Whew! I'm tired already...

Cheers,

-- Zach

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