The next test is the Climber Melt Test.
If you recall, this is the test where the climber is illuminated at 100% power for the full climb duration (plus margin), and we confirm that it can take the heat. We also look at the amount of power produced by the climber, to confirm that it is sufficient to move it up the cable at competitive speeds.
A few posts ago I described how KCSP embellished on this test by designing a beam operated R/C car that that carried the PV panel on its tail
The LM setup is more conventional, and while it does not provide a complete end-to-end functionality test, it allows for much better analysis of what’s going on while beaming. The climber is mounted on a vertical stand, with a 45-degree mirror underneath, and the horizontal beam is bounced onto its underside. The test stand can also be used as a vertical treadmill, but this test is not part of our standard test suite. A ducted blower give the climber the air cooling and aerodynamic loading it would have gotten during a real run. (Air cooling is allowed in the games, even though it is not representative of real space conditions)
The first image shows the climber being hit by the beam (notice how little light is reflected out, even in this point-blank image).
The second image shows how LM track the temperature of the climber – an IR imager for locating hot spots, an IR thermometer for getting an average readout of the front side of the panel, and thermocouples embedded on the back side of the panel.
During this test we also get to see how much power they are able to extract, and just like KCSP, these guys are confident in their performance.
Only I know the comparable performance metrics, but I’m not telling!






For the obvious reasons, I invariably get too busy to blog exactly when things get interesting...