ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 1 Monthly Status Report Report due 3/25/00 Schedule statused as of Mar. 10, 2000

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 2 Project Status Summary Technical Jan Feb Mar Detailed Description: (for items identified as yellow or red) Programmatic Jan Feb Mar Schedule Jan Feb Mar Resources Jan Feb Mar We were becoming increasingly worried about when the final contract would be put in place. For the entire month of February, we have been working at our own financial risk. We completed the 4-month Bridge phase which was put in place solely to allow time for the final contract to be finalized. With the contract now received at SwRI, it appears that this is no longer a concern. We do not see any problems at this time either technical, schedule, or programmatic. We are still on schedule though the schedule is tight. We have been continuing to use additional personnel (while remaining on our spend plan) to maintain the schedule. Latest project photos are available on Aspera-3 web site.

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 3 Problem and Concern Summary P=Problem C=Concern R=Resolved

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 4 Accomplishments of the Last Month -ELS Completed bench test of the HVPS. Interfaced the HVPS to the FEE for a compatibility test. No “noise” seen in FEE. This test eliminated the potential need for some sort of shield between the HVPS and the FEE. This is a major program milestone. We agreed to a price and subcontract with Walton Plating. P.O. has been placed. Prototype mechanical parts are currently being plated at Walton Plating.  Communication between the Swedish DPU and and the SwRI controller that will be used during ELS vacuum characterization was completed successfully.

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 5 Accomplishments of the Last Month -ELS (cont.)  Input tests to the Swedish DPU have been successfully detected at the controller  The feasibility of ELS power supply control by the DPU during calibration is currently under investigation  Vacuum goniometer control solved with separate computer system controllers, one to control ELS and the other for the vacuum system Modification of lab test control software is almost done, just received the last files.

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 6 Accomplishments of the Last Month - IMA Received the two printed circuit boards (anode / amplifier board & digital board). Digital board part installation is 50% complete. We are waiting on some parts to come in. Anode board is currently in fab and is about 50% complete. Mechanical parts for prototype, flight and flight spare IMA detector are being machined to be completed first week of April. IMA MCPs are in house. Began design of the IMA GSE.

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 7 Accomplishments of the Last Month - Data Reduction Software  Set up ASPERA-3 Processing and Archiving Facility (APAF) Lab  Configured APAF Network and Servers  Continued Defining IDFS Web Tools  Updated Software Development Plan (version 1.1 to be available by March 31, 2000)  Held monthly ASPERA-3 Software Status Meeting (March 21, 2000)

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 8 Planned Activities for the Next Month - ELS Perform fit check of housing, HVPS and FEE when housing is received back from UV coating at Walton Plating. Continue bench level compatibility tests between HVPS and FEE. Decide whether the current printed circuit boards that were used for the prototype are suitable for flight. (Note: They were bought with certs.) Begin cabling for ELS vacuum tests. Finalize modification of the Astrid EGSE to use for ELS.

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 9 Planned Activities for the Next Month - IMA Finish populating circuit boards. Finalize fabrication of IMA prototype mechanical parts. Finalize the mechanical analysis. Continue design and fabrication of the IMA EGSE.

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 10 Planned Activities for the Next Month - Data Reduction Software Tasks  Finish Configuration of ASPERA-3.org Server  Complete ASPERA-3.org Web Site Documentation  Provide Technical Assistance for EPO Web Information  Continue Implementation of IDFS Web Tools  Continue to Define IDFS Information Gathering Tools  Update Data System Interface Document Based on Latest Information  Provide Draft of Project Data Management Plan

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 11 Problem and Concern Status (cont.) MOU / SOW with MSSL for UV coating: Resolved. MOU / SOW in place. Purchase Order has been placed. Prototype ELS parts are currently being coated. Plan is in place for coating the flight parts. Get ELS EGSE up and running: Resolved. We continue to make good progress with the EGSE. We now have on-board a student from IRF to help out in setting up the GSE. We now have it running and only need to make minor mods to it to get it finalized. It is no longer one of our worries.

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 12 Problem and Concern Status (cont.) Getting final contract in Place by March 1, 2000 (now April ): Still a concern. The dealing with NASA contracts continues to be our number one problem area on the project. We did receive a copy of the contract on March 24 (after waiting almost 5 months). We are in the process of reviewing it to turn it around by the end of the month. Fortunately for the ASPERA project, SwRI administration has allowed us to continue work with only a letter rather than the signed contract. We still see this issue as a concern, and will until it is signed-off by all parties.

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 13 Problem and Concern Status (cont.) Fabrication of IMA MCP Holder: Resolved. The fabrication of the IMA MCP holder is a underway with all prototype, flight and flight spare parts due to be finished the first week of April. Due to the simple nature of the parts and the their flight history, we opted to go ahead and make all flight parts with the prototype parts to get ahead of the schedule and to realize the savings of a single set-up in the machine shop.

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 14 Problem and Concern Status (cont.) Assembly Process for ELS with UV Coated Parts: A new concern. We will soon be receiving the prototype ELS parts from Walton plating. We will start to to develop special handling, storage, and assembly procedures, processes and aids during the next month. We are concerned with the fragility of the coating and how we will assemble the very intricate ELS mechanical and electrical subassemblies.

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 15 Schedule Summary Total float on the tasks in the schedule has not changed much since last month. Mechanical is again the critical path (ELS Mechanical Details) with about 15 days float. As with last month: –Schedule still has 21 days slack at the end (DEL0050) in addition to float shown for each task –FEE & HVPS have 20 days each allotted for mods after prototype testing. –All flight activity is completely serial with prototype activities. We can (will) do activities in parallel to maintain schedule. If we opt to use any of the prototype PCB’s for flight, we will update the schedule accordingly buying us additional float that can be used downstream if problems arise. Software activities are on schedule. Full-up schedule is available on the ASPERA-3 Web site.

ASPERA-3 Mar. 25, 00 Monthly Status Report ASPERA Monthly Status ReportMonthly 3_25/ Page 16 ASPERA-3 PHASE B/C/D MASTER SCHEDULE