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MSA Makes Submission to 2020 Summit
Read the full text of the submission here.
Cooler Weather Allows More Progress
In Perth the weather now stays hot until well into March, even April. This makes work on the Star chaser difficult, especially if it involves heat-sensitive materials such as expanding urethane foam. However as the weather changes, it becomes easier to work on the machine and progress has again picked up. The most important developments over the past month has been mounting the floor pedals, brake booster and steering column to the firewall; the finalisation of interior framework; the completion of detailed construction plans for the forward control steering linkage; the further implementation of the engine restart plan; and the commencement of the floor sandwich.
The firewall serves as an important support element for a number of vehicle subsystems, including the control console, gear levers, pedals and steering column, among others. Work fitting these has progressed well, with few holdups. Thanks to earlier wooden mock-ups of the drivers station built during the design...
AMEC2008 Registration Now Open - Catch Our Special Early Bird Rates!
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Australian High School Teachers to Participate in NASA Spaceward Bound Program
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AMEC2008 - Call for Papers Now Open!
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Read more about the conference at the AMEC2008 Homepage.
Latest VSSEC Newsletter Reports on MSA/Spaceward Bound
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Announcing the 8th Australian Mars Exploration Conference, AMEC 2008
Opportunities for sponsorship open soon. Email to register your interest.
MSA Member Heads to the Snowy as Australia Day Ambassador
Read more here.
AMEC2007 Display and Firewall Installation
In July, the partially completed vehicle was put on display at the 7th Australian Mars Exploration Conference in Perth. Here a number of MSA members, NASA representatives and interested academics had a chance to examine and comment on the design, which was well received. An important topic of discussion was how to speed up construction, which is of course limited by a shortage of workers. This is problem is particularly acute in Western Australia at present because of an economic boom which is absorbing almost all available contractors and driving up prices. A number of suggestions were made, including employing itinerant contract workers, advertising broadly for volunteers and moving the machine to a TAFE technical college with student mechanics.
Following the return of the vehicle to the Byfield's factory after the conference, work slowed due to railway contract work there and illness on the part of the manager, which lasted several months. However, some work did continue...