Sunday 8 May, was not only Mother’s Day but also a mammoth milestone as the team prepared for and successfully completed our Intelsat 31 fitcheck.
The team was up and rolling with an early start to the day for our fitcheck. The SC had been put through numerous stand-alone testing operations in Hall 103A for readiness, while in Hall 101, the PLA (Payload Adapter) hardware had also run the gauntlet of tests performed by our KhSC specialists.
With a resolute synchronicity (learned thru years of working together) our culturally diverse team (from Russia, America and Sweden) merged in H103A to perform our fitcheck. As with every operation, our pre-task briefing was performed to introduce the teams with associated team leads, reiterate the necessary safety requirements and to ensure that all personnel involved in the operations were on the same page. Meticulous attention to detail, specialty personnel available at for quality checks/verifications, all ensured that the Intelsat 31 fitcheck was a resounding success!
The final operations of the day were to transfer the PLA and support stand back to H101 to await the start of joint operations, and the SC onto the fueling dolly in preparation for SC fueling. Operation completed…seamlessly!