Shortly following the unification of BLAST-Pol, some deunification was required. The rapidly warmed cryostat was unmounted and opened to search for the source of microphonics. The star cameras were remounted, and the inner frame rebalanced so that pointing can continue while the cryostat recools. […]
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Yesterday was a quiet day with many people spending much of the day looking at noise. Brad and Enzo arrived in the afternoon to join the excitement. Some of the detectors are too sensitive to vibrations (microphonics), and a noisy fan in the star camera exacerbated the problem. The end result is that the cryostat is being warmed up to diagnose (and fix!) the problem. The late night crew discovered that the detectors respond to music. […] On Friday the 13th, BLAST-Pol was more-or-less completely assembled, with the cryo and gondola halves mated. The SIP was installed in the morning, and the cryostat, receiver, DAS, and star cameras in the afternoon. […] Yesterday was a quiet day of waiting for the cryostat to cool, unpacking, and working on code. The most notable event was Joseph bringing the SIP over for testing. […] Yesterday the long-awaited shipment from Toronto arrived, with a leak-checker, solar panels, and other goodies. After leak-checking, the cryostat was filled with liquid helium. This took several transfers and until after midnight. Giles had to leave us early. Best wishes Giles. […] After a long separation, BLAST-Pol and I have finally been reunited! Tristan, Laura, and I arrived in Palestine to find that the initial crew (Natalie, Elio, Tyr, Giles, Greg, and Mark) had assembled the gondola to where it could point. […] The pivot needs to come down to have an inclinometer installed. On Spider, the pivot is especially high (the 28 foot ladder is barely long enough). Extra complication is supplied by the extra-heavy suspension cables. Natalie designates herself the climber while Barth, Juan, Jamil, and I help/watch/photograph/heckle/etc. […] On Friday we did some much needed lab cleaning in the highbay. Then, with undergrads (aka “minions”, in the nicest sense of the word) John and Little-/Young-/Undergrad-/Other-Steve around we decided to free up more space by assembling the sun shields and “storing” them on the gondola. A few hours and hundreds of bolts later, the carbon-fibery awesomeness of the gondola was successfully augmented. […] Starting about a month ago, the gondola was almost completely disassembled. Parts needed final modifications to match the flight-like configuration. After the reassembly, The gondola was also given a new, temporary, and spectacular inner frame. […] I spent a morning looking at the office windows, and the different things their sills have accumulated. […] |
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