[Space] Launch names

[Christopher Lincoln]

Actually bus 03 was retired after Beta, it was too time consuming to set up
and too inflexible with what it could carry.  Bus 04 was carved for Gamma,
repaired after the barbwire fence and other damage that it received from
that launch, and finally flew for Delta and Epsilon.  We are currently
planning on continuing to fly 04 until the hardware requires a new bus to be
created (or we lose/destroy 04)

The biggest changes between the two busses are the payload compartments.  03
had individual compartments for each hardware piece, while 04 has 1
large cavity that all hardware gets placed into.  We keep the cameras
stationary in 04 by fastening them to the faceplate, which also makes
getting the other equipment in and out much easier.  Changing between an
upward facing camera and a downward facing camera just requires that the
faceplate get slotted in upside down, and we are using wadded up newspaper
to keep the rest of the components from shifting around too
much during flight.

Christopher

On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 2:26 PM, Charles Collicutt
<charles at collicutt.co.uk>wrote:

> Ah, I didn't realize there was a launch with an upwards-facing camera
> before
> the night launch. I've found Blake's Delta photos now, thanks.
>
> Did you make any changes to the bus for Gamma, Delta or Epsilon? Or is it
> still the same sort of thing that you laboriously carved for Beta?
>
> --
> Charles
>
> "The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program.
>  And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll
>  serve us right!"
>         -- Larry Niven, quoted by Arthur C. Clarke in 2001
>
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