ADVANCED
SEPARATION
SYSTEMS
Engineers at PSC design assemble and test Lightbands. All of the machining and fabrication is completed by vendors qualified to PSCs standards. Currently only engineers are allowed to assemble or test Lightbands. PSC maintains written documentation of all tasks associated with flight hardware procurement, storage, assembly, test and shipment. Lightbands and their subsystems are tracked and completely traceable using their purchase order, serial number or lot. Just like in testing at PSC, manufacturing is done in teams. Two engineers sign-off on steps in manufacturing procedures (one acts as the technician, the other as quality assurance) and three engineers execute a Build Complete Review (BCR) as the final step in the completion of the manufacturing procedures.
PSC writes, executes and approves manufacturing procedures. PSC also takes any corrective action if anomalies arise. The customer furnished wiring harness is not included in the manufacturing of a Lightband at PSC. (The harness is added later by the customer.)
PSC completes four standard acceptance tests on flight Lightbands prior to delivery. This is part of PSCs quality assurance plan. Just like in manufacturing, testing is done in teams. Two engineers sign-off on individual steps in testing procedures and three engineers execute a Test Complete Review (TCR) as the final step in the completion of the test procedures. The Lightband is tested as a unit with respect to the definition in MIL STD 1540. However, PSCs testing of the Lightband does not include the wiring harness, which as noted earlier can weigh as much as the Lightband. Transition rings are fastened to the Lightband during testing to mimic flight-like structural, thermal and dynamic boundary conditions.
PSC writes, executes and approves the test plans. PSC also takes any corrective action if anomalies arise. Customers are supplied the test plans prior to test start (if requested).
