Sunday, July 10, 2022
By:
I made a lot of progress at work this week. I managed to install software for the star camera and its controlling interface onto the flight computer with the EXCLAIM flight computer lead, Jim. I also made a resource documenting all software installs for the flight computer - it’s a work in progress but the group will need it since we will have to install all the software on another system at some point. Eric and I figured out the pinout of the camera and did some soldering to connect it to its power supply. I also finished the prototype image processing program and removed its Redis dependency (Redis is a message bus that lets the balloon instruments talk to each other). We can start using it once we are able to collect images on the star camera. Eric and I also found a lens holder for the star camera that has more fasteners than the old one. We will need to design around it, but it will be more secure than the old one. Next week, I will need to remove the OpenCV dependency (another python package) in the star camera operation software and come up with a design to attach the star camera to a metal plate on the mount.
I am applying for jobs, the new hiring season has just started. I had an interview with a PCB (printed circuit board) company in Massachusetts on Thursday and I think it went ok! They had me play Flow Free and Tangrams to prepare for my interview, during which someone demonstrated the process of designing printed circuit boards. I’m happy to report that PCB design is indeed quite similar to both of those games!
At home, I watched the 4th of July fireworks with my cousin. He recently moved to DC and will start working on the hill this coming week. He also came to Quigley’s for tater tots and happy hour with the interns on Friday, and he joined us for a potluck on Sunday! He brought clementines and I brought quiche again. Also in attendance were some friends from Wellesley who live on the floor below the SPS interns (they brought ice cream!). I also saw my college friend Emma in Bethesda, we visited the community pool and got lunch at the only restaurant in Bethesda that she hasn’t visited yet: Tacombi (Bethesda). I DND with the interns on Tuesday and played frisbee at NASA on Thursday. Taylor O, Lucy, Matangi, and I made pumpkin bread and mango-pineapple bread together this week, and I will be making another loaf of pumpkin bread to trade with Kate tomorrow - she made a red bean bread for me! I can’t wait to try it. My housemate Taylor O is away at a physics conference, maybe there will still be some left for her when she’s back on Wednesday evening.
Nicole Leung