Week 3:
Monday continued the inspections of the motor-controller pods. There are four pods in total: two units that control four motors each and two units that control two. The main purpose of these visual inspections is to verify the condition of the housings as part of a larger inspection of all implodable volumes. While inspecting the pods, we noticed damaged wiring and took the opportunity to repair it while the pods were already open.
It was my first time working with Molex Micro-Fit connectors, a fairly standard connector, but also my first time working with silver-tinned, Teflon-insulated wire. Compared to other jacket types, the Teflon insulation presents a new to me challenge; it’s so slippery that inserting the pins into the connectors requires more care and patience.
Motor-pod inspections continued through the end of Wednesday. No major flaws were found in the housings. We did, however, bring out and learn to use the optical micrometer to verify that a few worrisome scratches were below the maximum allowed depth of 0.005″. The deepest we found was around 0.002″, well within tolerance.
Thursday and Friday were spent working down the list of other implodable components. The highlight of the week came on Friday with the mech team’s removal of the sphere. After days of preparation and planning, followed by a morning of discussion, the team spent about an hour and some change performing a slow, methodical sequence of bolt removal and lifting the sphere onto its temporary stand.
Week 4:
This was a short week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Monday and Tuesday were spent continuing the inspection of the remaining implodable volumes, with no concerning flaws found in any of the equipment.
The big event of the week was the retirement party for Lane Abrams, a Senior Electrical Engineer who has been part of the Alvin team for 34 years.
Week 5:
Monday and Tuesday turned into paperwork-heavy days. Many parts and consumables connected to or used in testing critical systems require verified histories so their material quality can be tracked. Many of the tools used on these systems must also be calibrated by certified labs. We received several shipments of calibrated tools and materials, and I spent time checking every page of the accompanying reports, verifying that correct procedures were followed, materials met the required specifications, and all serial, order, and reference numbers matched across every document. I also checked stock levels for components and made lists of cables/wires that may be replaced during the overhaul.
On Wednesday and Thursday, I began helping out the mech team. Our first task was cleaning and inspecting the variable ballast spheres. These are four titanium spheres, roughly 2 feet in diameter, that are used to adjust Alvin’s buoyancy. Following standard procedures, we rinsed each sphere with fresh water for a set amount of time. This took a while, since each sphere requires the crane for moving, and managing the water flow took some planning to avoid turning the shop into a pond.
Next, we set up the spheres for visual inspection. The process was similar to the inspections performed on the smaller implodable volumes: cleaning the spheres, buffing any scratches that drew attention, and, if a scratch still looked questionable, using the optical micrometer to confirm it was within acceptable depth. No concerning flaws were found. The main difference with these spheres was the internal inspection. Each sphere has only two openings, each about half an inch wide, located at the top and bottom. Inspecting the interior required using a borescope, which turned out to be an interesting exercise involving a bit of a dance around the spheres to see every angle we needed to check.
Thursday night marked the third session of our team’s D&D campaign, and I’d been, mostly in secret, putting together a costume for my druid. The highlight was an oak staff topped with a quartz crystal, illuminated from within by a bright LED I could control by wireless remote. The reveal was a hit, and now it sounds like a couple others are planning to bring costume pieces next week.
Friday was spent cleaning the shop and preparing for next week. The Navy will be visiting for the majority of the week to conduct an inspection.