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• Loading weights to calibrate the balance

• Making sure the weights are steady

• It's a long way up there!

• George talking to the control room

• In the control room

• Back to the drawing board

• A popular shot!

• A cable: dresssed and undressed

• Measuring the canard angle

• Tufts

• What are we going to do with all those media folks?

• The Test Readiness Review

• Possom

Alex Sheikman and Ruben Torrecampo carefully load 50 pound weights. A long cable attaches to the balance on the sting. At the lower end it holds a plate upon which the weights are placed. The cable/plate acts like a plumb bob - it must hang straight down so that the force is applied in only one direction. For this test the plate will be loaded with weights totalling from100 pounds up to 1500 pounds!

The cable, weights and plate much be completely still before the measurement is taken.

When all is ready, everyone backs away and the measurement is taken.

George Fenton supervises the test from on top of the person-lift. He is listening to the control room through the headphones and talking to them on a microphone. When everything is ready,he tells the control room to proceed with the measurement. The engineers in the control room then determine whether the measurement is accurate. If it is, then they add more weight or change the rotation of the balance.

In the control room, the engineers observe the measurements and make any modifications necessary. Once the balance is calibrated, the calibration information is fed into a computer so that the forces on the balance can be properly computed - in this case by Craig Hange

Every once in a while, even the best engineers have to go back to the whiteboard!

Seems like this web page is not the only game in town!

This cable has been terminated with a plug. The far end of the cable is covered with a shielding material (dressed) while the middle part is still "undressed".

Rich Grimm measures the angle of the canard, using a small hand-held inclinometer. This measurement is used to calibrate the inclinometer that is mounted on the canard itself.

The strings hanging down on the face of the vertical tail are called "tufts". Tufts are actually pieces of brightly colored embroidery thread that are sewn into the fabric of the tail, wings and canard. When the wind blows over these surfaces, cameras record the reaction of the tufts which tells a story about the flow and turbulence experienced by the surface.

Pete Zell and Mike Mewhinney, from the NASA Ames External Affairs Office discuss strategy during the Media Day walk-through.

Pete Zell presides over Test Readiness Review #1. The second TRR will probably be held on Thursday, March 4.

Everyone wants to see the Wright Flyer! This fellow was caught sneaking a peek at the model through the outside wall of the tunnel late this evening.