“5/5 stars, excellent design, works as intended.”
That’s what you might think of when reading the word review. However the result of our upcoming review will probably be a document detailing a massive number of changes to be made on our design. Our previous review, the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) was held at Esrange, Kiruna before this blog started. There we presented the progress we had made on our experiment design since the Selection Workshop. The Critical Design Review (CDR), one of the most important milestones in our design has completed and we have come out with flying colors.
If it weren't for the Covid-19 virus I and four to five other team members would be in Germany at the moment. Instead we were all sitting at home and our presentations were in group calls.
Our CDR started with us showing our experiment design. After that we discussed aspects of the experiment with a panel of experts. Similar to our experience at the PDR, this was mostly a free flowing discussion with design improvements and changes being suggested by the panel. Currently, we are waiting for the results of the review and we will attend an ask the experts session later in the month which will involve an in depth discussion of our design. There we will know what areas we need to make changes in.
After the CDR, manufacturing and testing of the experiment will start. Of course we have already started with some of the manufacturing of the components. Parts which were close to completion at the time of the PDR, such as the recovery unit, have been prototyped.
There are 3 more reviews to come- The Integration Progress Review which will be held sometime in August, the Experiment Acceptance Review in November 2020 and the Flight Readiness Review which usually takes place during the launch campaign in 2021. With each passing review, our experiment gets that much closer to completing that exciting journey to the upper atmosphere.
There is much more to come, all available on www.b2d2.se, on Facebook, and on Instagram. Stay tuned for more infos on our test campaign!
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