FRIDAY, 02.27.09

0644: Spare Part, Important: Read ASAP
The box containing spare parts in return for the loan of a thruster unit has a part inside that we no longer need to give away, and that we need back here. This is from the gray pelican case I delivered to you the other day.

DO NOT SEND THIS PART. Please open up the case and remove the part pictured here. It is a big steel and black donut. Then, send the case back to the States with all due speed. It should go in with Tom Sharp when he flies in for the pick up on Tarawa. As soon as it gets Stateside, it should be sent to Mike Purcell.

AGAIN, remove part pictured here and bring back to RVSJ with other parts.
MOST IMPORTANT.
Thanks all.

0702: Day 10 (Yesterday, February 24)
This morning at 0244, Mary Ann aborted her mission. When she came to the surface, her thruster motors did not activate after the recovery float was deployed and the command sent for the vehicle to back down. The grapple was fired over the vehicle and with some fancy line handling, she was recovered safely to the deck. When her log files were checked, there was an indication that the ascent weight or float had been released, which is an abort condition. The emergency board cycles much faster than the vehicle log, so while we did not see the indication on the surface, the records in the vehicle indicate this is what happened. That was the reason for the abort and the issue is being looked into right now (could be a jiggly ascent weight. They are made of lead and the attachment bolts are not uniform, so coulda been a tad loose). The thruster failure was another matter altogether and unrelated to the abort (although had it happened on survey, it would certainly have caused one).

When the thruster was taken apart on the surface, it was determined the encapsulated stator failed on the main propulsion unit. This thing acts like a timing belt to control the firing of the motor phases in the feedback loop. They tested, re-tested and confirmed their testing with a couple guys checking each other’s results and with help from the rear. Greg Packard performed surgery on Ginger’s encoder, damaged from the other night, to see if he could tear into Mary Ann’s to try and repair it. They basically started hacking off the potting and the results were not good, just more damage. Initially they thought it irreparable. We then started talking about immediate actions.

The replacement spare we have is currently on Ted Waitt’s ship and was promised in return for a thruster assembly. At the time we did not have an answer, so we were in a very bad spot. We had one vehicle down from the vehicle/ship interface, and now we had another down due to an inexplicable motor failure — and our spare is three days away. I don’t mind saying some very dark thoughts entered my stream of consciousness. At that point, it looked like the best we could hope for was one vehicle for the duration of the mission and the deal had just become irrelevant. If we needed the spares aboard the ship, then the choice in front of us was really which vehicle do we want working?

We caught a small break. We were informed we could get the part (stator) and retain ours and still contemplate the loan. Now we had another conundrum. What to do next? Did we go to Ted to pick up our spare and lose the run time and fuel? Did we have them run the part out to us and then lose their assets in running the loaner out to us should that deal be approved? Should we all sit and do nothing for the time being? Strange as it sounds, the last option was the best. We needed to sit on our hands on both sides and wait for more information.

As anxious as this made us, I have no doubt that Ted’s frustration far outweighed ours. While we could keep working our DOT field and do maintenance and in general keep busy, he had to sit in open water a hundred miles from Tarawa, and listen to us describe how his dream was melting away from under him. It had to be infuriating and I, for one, was amazed at how well he took it. I guarantee you, had I been he, I would have wanted someone to pay the price. We got nothing like that from him. I have to say, missions like this are never easy and there are always going to be problems. But this is, as he described it, “like a bad movie.” We needed some joy and we needed it badly.

And it came. Lee Frey was awakened and spent the next four hours troubleshooting the failed motor; lo and behold, he got it working again. He does not know why or how, but somehow the thing is spinning again. I hate these fixes. Through troubleshooting and tweaking, some connection got tightened or something awry was put back into place and the thing works. It’s scary; you can never trust that part again, but in this case it was a Godsend. I will take inexplicable over inoperative anytime. Mary Ann was put back in the water at 2252 and is now on survey working away. What a dear girl she is. And that was not the end of our good fortune.

With only one vehicle available, the team won’t give up when it has a problem…

We were informed today the part we need will arrive on Tarawa tomorrow at sunrise for transport out to us aboard Ted’s boat. As I write this, 3:29 a.m. on Feb 27th, that part is in the air and headed our way.

Current status: Mary Ann is down on survey. The parts to get Ginger back are en route and should be to us sometime early next week. By Tuesday, I hope to be back on station with two vehicles. We are tracking a number of issues right now, but they can wait for a slow news day.

Thank your deities, people, and request they look over us. We are only a fraction of the distance and the lady ain’t shown herself yet.