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Yestrday saw more gluing of the side scoop, more mirror alignment, and our second barbecue (this time without pouring rain!). Juan also went exploring a bit and took some good outdoor shots (apologies for awkwardly alliterative appellation). The day was also sad, since we lost Natalie and Barth. They will both be back, but it […] Yesterday Juan and Natalie glued the second layer of the side scoop, liquid nitrogen filling of the cryostat started, and the mirrors were mounted. There was also the England vs. USA match in the World Cup, which distracted a large portion of the team. Especially when the English keeper let in a terrible goal. In […] Other than coding (which yields very exciting pictures, and huge amounts of movement in timelapse videos) yesterday’s work consisted of the beginnings of side-scoop gluing, and assembly of the primary/secondary mirror. After dinner we had a few drinks outside the hotel. One of the locals brought over a frog to which he had given a […] Yesterday Natalie reothogonalized the gyroscopes, complicated by extra tape and paint added since last time. Mark worked on laser-aligning things in the optics box and gave an impromptu Optics 101 lecture. Half of the carbon fiber tubes for the side scoop arrived, but not the half that would allow Juan to start gluing. The other […] The purpose of today was to move all the things working in the Bemco chamber onto the gondola. We also had to fix some power system stuff, set up the gondola umbilicus, and the cryostat team opened it up for the usual post-shipping treatment (replace travel supports, and look for loose screws). All day there […] Yesterday we finally got most things in the Bemco working. We tested the balance system for leaks (especially any from the previous day’s wrench exploits), but since we don’t have anti-freeze, the tanks are only tested in vacuum—no thermal testing. Plus the cryostat and things showed up. Matt, Laura, and Elio showed up at exactly […] I’m trying to get caught up on photos, so here’s a bunch from yesterday (this time posted the next morning, not way later!). Much of the time was spent setting up all of the electronics that could be crammed into the Bemco chamber. Needless to say, not everything worked. There was also some fun with […] We got the timelapse video webcam running yesterday (turns out it still had bugs). If I get around to it, I might make semi-recent views from the webcam available on this site. There was a bit more unpacking to do, but we pretty much got to real work: cable making, box fixing, and painting things […] We are now in Palestine! (Or rather, myself, Natalie, Juan, Barth, and Dina arrived yesterday) The customs folks at Pearson didn’t approve of the “intent” of Natalie or Dina, so didn’t let them through. I met them outside and waited with them. We were saved from confusion and almost missing the flight by Lori from […] Or, if you prefer, the Wall of Not Doom (WoND, pronounced “wand”). Whatever you call it, it’s everyone’s favourite absurdly large sun shield extension—and it was mostly assembled today. The gravity of the occasion called for such background music as Carmina Burana and Ride of The Valkyries. |
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