This week was the last week before launch. All three groups spent the week doing last-minute calibrations and tests in order to be prepared for the big day. Most tests consisted of making sure servos functioned properly, running through code, and seeing if data was being sampled and stored correctly.
For the launch, the plan was originally to have one stamp for the mercury and charge systems and another for the solar power experiment. While testing the devices, it was found that the voltage discharge from the breakdown voltage experiment sends out an EMP. This causes all servos in the system to move. This would disrupt the other experiments going on inside the payload. Since we could not come up with a viable solution to the issue before launch we have decided to launch the charge payload separately from the others experiment.
We are looking forward to the launch and getting results from all our hard work. Hopefully everything goes smoothly this weekend and we have a successful recovery.
