Yesterday was my first CDM meeting. I still have no idea what it stands for, but at this point, it really doesn't matter. The whole concept is new to me. It's foreign and innovative and industrial and raw. And despite my vast lack of knowledge on the subject, I still find it to be incredibly fascinating.
It's an M-Cubed meeting. They build things that go into space. It took a discussion-like structure. Concepts were being presented and group members put in their input.
The main topic of discussion for last night was "Payload Camera Selection and Interfacing Overview". Such big words.
It's the camera. The camera is important. It's the payload. The pièce de résistance. The camera has to take, process, and download pictures from a dinky metal cube that it will be built into. You attach the cube onto a spacecraft and there it goes on its out-of-the-world endeavor.
The meeting is intense but relaxed. It's serious but informal. The words are big and confusing but you understand what is going on because you have to understand what is going on. There are project managers and payload teams. Something big is going on here. There's an insane time crunch.
"You have until next semester to this this."
"How confident are you that you can do that?"
The camera has to survive. And what about the sensors? Don't forget to expose it to extreme heat. Don't forget to expose it to extreme cold. Don't forget expose it to nothing. Put it in a vacuum. Remove it from existence.
There are chips and metal and circuitry and students involved. There's something about FPJs and something about USBs. You have so many questions and concerns that you are concerned when you don't have a concern. You've been doing this for years but it's still new and exhilarating to you. You're excited and you're scared and you want to run out of the room in frustration and at the same time you want to sit in the room in calm.
But that's the charm.
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