Greg Hutchins and Jamie Cutler traveled to Utah with Opal as a carry on.
 
 

Greg Hutchins and Jamie Cutler sit happily on a plane with Opal, the white box under Jamie's arm on the right.

Greg and Jamie haul Opal into the San Francisco International Airport.

Greg and Jamie are wondering just how far they can carry this multi-million dollar hunk of aluminum.

Greg stands guard with Opal. It's inside the white box. And, yes, we did get some interesting looks. Had to make people guess what it was. The best was the grandma marveling at kids and their gadgets these days. Security wasn't much of an issue. They just swabbed it with the chemical sniffer.

A proud Greg poses with Opal at Weber State in Utah.

Greg attempts to explain that it really is just a student satellite!

Greg again with Opal at Weber. The cylinder on the right is the shake table. We hooked up a small radio to one of their computers when we left and installed software to allow us to continue testing Opal after delivery.

Greg, Vadim Matte, and Jamie stand with the mysterious Opal box.

Bob Twiggs

Jamie, Vadim, Aldo XXX, and Greg pose in front of Twiggs' minivan.

Opal rides in luxury in its protective (?) white foam core box. The handles are strapped to the plane seat to prevent sliding forware (thanks Caleb for the webbing).

Opal on workbench in clean room of Weber State in Utah.

View of Opal's LVI, launch vehicle interface. The gold cylinder is a split nut actuator designed to release a bolt on Opal allowing the spring above it to eject Opal. The spring is tied down with lacing to allow placement and removal of Opal from LVI. The wrires leading to Opal are charging batteries and providing external power. The solar panels are protected with plexiglass covers. The four cylinders and aluminum plate under the LVI are just a stand to allow the antennas to straighten.

Another view of Opal on the table.

Opal's first flight. Just a taste of what was to come.