This past week has been one of the best weeks of my internship. Loudon and I are at the peak of our work and it has been very exciting. We had a late start to the week because our mentor, Dmitry Vorobiev, let us drive back to Telluride for the 4th of July. When we got back we immediately jumped back into our projects. We started by taking the epoxied glass slides that we buzzed in isopropyl alcohol, and looked under the optical comparator to see if the isopropyl dissolved any epoxy. The slides looked good so we put them into a bakeout chamber that was set to 85 degrees Celsius, and left them for an hour. After we took them out and looked at them under the optical comparator again. We then put them into a freezer that was -40 degrees Celcius.; after the freezer, we put the slides in a vacuum chamber for another hour. The reason we did all these tests on the epoxyed glass slides was to see how the epoxy will react to the harsh conditions of space.
The next day we started by finishing our ESD safety training so that we could handle ESD electronics. After I finished my ESD safety training I went to help with the flat sat. We needed more holes on the side of the box so that we could fit connectors into the box. I used a punch to put these holes in. Each punch is sized to fit different-sized connectors in them, and we needed to put two 9-pin connectors and one 15-pin connector in. I then learned how to make the circuit connectors. After doing that and putting in a few more holes in the box it was time to go home. Next week I will help fully assemble the flat sat.
At night Loudon and I went to play frisbee golf and we then came home and I thought Loudon how to make homemade french fries and chicken fingers. we did not start eating until 1:00 AM, but it was worth it.
Baen, by the sounds of it, your pinternship is going well, along with those safety training. What has been the most surprising part of your Pinternship so far? Those homemade chicken strips look delicious as well!