LDCM Thermal Instrument Completes Pre-Ship Testing

Jan. 19, 2012 • LDCM's thermal instrument (TIRS) completed the last of its functional testing at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center yesterday. For the next two weeks the instrument will go through a series of closing inspections before being shipped to the LDCM spacecraft contractor, Orbital Sciences, Corp.

A Pre-Ship Review will be held on Monday, February 6th. And if all goes well, TIRS will ship to Orbital on the following day. Once at Orbital, post-ship testing will occur followed by integration onto the spacecraft.

TIRS was designed, built, and tested in three and a half years in-house at NASA Goddard. This is an incredibly fast development and delivery time. The TIRS engineers worked on instrument testing around the clock through the holiday season. The scientists reviewing the TIRS testing data are very pleased with the instrument performance.

TIRS team moving the instrument and calibration equipment back to the clean room after testing. Photo credit: Matthew Montanaro.

TIRS Instrument Manager, Cathy Richardson, has called the TIRS build a challenging and rewarding experience. After TIRS shipment, Richardson is going on to be the Chief of NASA Goddard's Instrument Management and Systems Office. Betsy Forsbacka will become the TIRS Instrument Manager and will see the project through post delivery activities and on to launch.

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