# Operation Last Light — campus mission

Groups of four · 45% · due 28 May 2027, 17:00 Canberra time.

This is the assigned Meridian Station operation. Operation Lamplight at Halcyon is a different worked example. In-person teaching is preferred; the online mission provides an equivalent reasoning route. Paper models do not certify physical equipment-handling skill.

## Your responsibility

Decide how the team can protect the last intact research archive. Choose physical recovery, verified digital recovery or stabilisation and handover. The objective determines your tests; it is not necessary to operate every apparatus. All approaches require equally careful evidence, a credible alternative and an accountable next action.

Lay out six labelled areas: Arrival, Workshop, Power Bay, Control Room, Archive and Dispatch. Assign Observer / Navigator, Systems Specialist, Investigator and Coordinator. Each records findings and requests needed information from other roles.

Before testing, preserve Version 1: objective, constraints, proposed evidence, necessary checks, checks you can omit with reasons, responsibilities and a revision trigger. Choose your own investigation order.

## Supplied case file

### Arrival — inventory and transport map

The inventory contains a bronze lens in the left mount, blue spool below the navigation board and white tile beside the manifest. The manifest lists white tile → bronze lens → blue spool. Map north is rotated 180° clockwise relative to the entrance.

Inspect and retain identity evidence. Notes are allowed; recall is optional. Physical transport needs orientation; a stationary outcome does not.

### Control — authority and archive profiles

| Record | Sequence | Content reference | Required support output |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Archive A | Complete | M27-A | One-third input speed |
| Archive B | Complete | M27-B | One-quarter input speed |

Baseline and Equipment Failure use signed source M27-A. Conflicting Archive supplies signed revision M27-B, which supersedes it. A timestamp alone does not authorise a new source.

The Investigator must compare identity, completeness and authority, then tell the relevant roles what is established and what remains uncertain. The support model is needed only when the original is moved or actively stabilised.

The transmission permission mandate permits Observer/read, Technician/service and Registrar/certify. Installed entries allow those three plus Observer/certify. Derive the needed correction and check legitimate access still works. This is needed for digital transmission; it is not a generic gate for transporting a sealed original.

### Workshop — support model

The driver has 12 teeth; candidate followers have 24, 36 and 48. Opposite-direction output turns = driver teeth ÷ follower teeth × input turns. The holding brake initially prevents motion.

State a prediction, select a discriminating test and compare its result with the required support output. Do not claim a matched tooth ratio proves movement occurred. Keep the measured or paper-model result and profile it supports.

### Power Bay — measurement model

A 6 V supply feeds a fuse, switch, load and return in series. The load is initially dark. Potential explanations include an interrupted path or a load not connected by its switch.

The compact mission provides a combined source-and-fuse check before replacement. Predict and record that result, then verify the load. Cite the Week 5 independent diagnosis record for your selection among competing tests; do not claim this one supplied check demonstrates that breadth. A facilitator reveals only the requested result using the separate [assessment facilitator sheet](assessment-facilitator.md). Isolate before replacement; record the original evidence and verify the load afterwards. Solo learners may reveal the results themselves and disclose this support.

Digital transmission and continuing stabilisation require the local supply. Physical Upper/Lift transport also requires it; Service transport is independent.

### Archive — custody and acceptance

The custodian requires preservation of the original and a named responsible recipient. Negotiate who accepts custody, what they can verify and what they must do next.

Dispatch accepts a **verified archive**, after its **integrity check**. Communicate item, destination and condition; the receiver reads back the profile and required evidence. A supported handoff depends on the selected objective's equipment, not automatically on a cradle.

| Transport route | Dependency | Marked checkpoints |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Upper | Matched cradle and lift supply | Upper access threshold → Sensor pause → Dispatch crossing |
| Lift | Matched cradle and lift supply | Lift loading line → Lift arrival platform → Dispatch crossing |
| Service | Matched cradle; independent of lift supply | Service isolation threshold → First sensor pause → Second sensor pause |

Routes concern movement of the original. Do not invent transport work for a digital or stationary-support objective.

## Published scenarios

- **Baseline:** source M27-A; all routes available if their dependencies hold.
- **Equipment Failure:** source M27-A; the transport lift supply is unavailable. Upper and Lift are blocked; the local transmission/support supply can still be measured, repaired and verified.
- **Conflicting Archive:** signed revision M27-B supersedes the earlier reference. Check any equipment or handoff that relied on the previous profile.

These are published changes, not secret answer traps.

## Required evidence depends on the approach

| Approach | Required checks and performed result | Why this remains demanding |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Physical | Inventory/source, map, matched support, viable route, custody agreement, precise handoff and preserved revision. Add measured, verified power for Upper/Lift. Release, collect, traverse the route's three checkpoints and hand over the original. | Explain why this route and recipient support preservation; defend transport risks and custody limits. |
| Digital | Inventory/source, measured, verified power, authorised access, preservation agreement, precise handoff and revision. Transmit, collect the matching receipt, check Receiving terminal checksum and deliver acknowledgement. Original stays in place. | Explain what receipt and integrity checks establish, their limits and who protects the retained original. |
| Stabilise | Inventory/source, matched support, measured, verified continuing power, custodian agreement, precise handoff and revision. Engage support, inspect the stable indicator and deliver the handover packet after custodian read-back. | Name monitoring responsibility, an escalation condition and the next action; explain why postponing removal is defensible. |

The facilitator issues RECEIPT-A36 or RECEIPT-B48 only after transmission of the corresponding verified profile. These are invented model consistency records, not real security credentials.

After an intervention, preserve the action trace, recipient, actual consequence and remaining obligation. Changed supporting evidence withdraws the affected handover; unrelated equipment does not erase a valid result.

## Submission

Keep two contrasting rehearsals with different presets and approaches, then a final run. Preserve original/revised plans and scope justification. Hand over all run records, role agreement, 800–1,200-word team account, ten-minute presentation and a 300-word individual defence per member.

A tutor judges reasoning and evidence. No ending automatically receives a higher mark, and an automated tick cannot assess the quality of an omission rationale.