Week 1 in pictures
Smiles all round
The team before the YES2 installation begins. From left: Delta-Utec Director Erik Van Der Heide, YES2 Integration Manager Fabio De Pascale and Delta-Utec lead system Engineer Michiel Kruiff.
30km of coiled Dyneema®
YES2 is designed to see if an alternative to chemical rocket de-orbiting is possible. The Dyneema® tether is very strong and in total is 32km long, but only 0.5mm thick!
Final checks
The team conduct final checks on the internal systems of YES2 before the installation on Foton is started. The tether, electrical and electronic system are all checked.
A complete YES2
The team can now start thinking about the installation on the Foton.From left: Rafal, the electrical system engineer, Michiel Kruiff, Roger Walker, Marco Stelzer and Fabio De Pascale.
3, 2, 1 ...Lift off!!
In the MIK12 Integration Hall in Baikonur, a roof mounted crane is used to move YES2 into position so that the next stage of the final installation can begin.
...a little to the left....
YES2 is gently lowered onto the Foton battery pack using the roof mounted crane.
YES2 connected
Now the Russian technicians carefully make sure that YES2 is connected to the Foton battery pack in the right places.
YES2 inspection
Fabio carefully inspects the final launch configuration between YES2 and Foton to make that everything is correctly connected.
Ground support checks
Marco and Michiel start the Ground Support Equipment checks with the help of Julia, a Russian technician at the MIK12 Integration Hall.
Last update: 8 November 2007
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