Update 22 June 2010: I’ve added some images acquired from Juan’s camera.
Yesterday Juan fully assembled his amazing side scoop. It couldn’t be mounted yet because he wanted to mark all the parts so that people other than him would be able to assemble it. The cryostat team started the many hours and several liquid helium fills it takes to get the cryostat fully cold. Matt, Tristan, and I stayed late for a final fill and to ensure everything was happy. And in the middle of the day there were some (mis-) adventures regarding star camera mounting.
-
- Before putting helium in the helium tank, the nitrogen there is pumped into the nitrogen tank
-
- Some of the transfer behaviour has perplexed Matt
-
- Seppy, on her (?) mount
-
- The bottom of Seppy’s mount. This all goes on the top of the sun shields
-
- Mounting point for CSBF’s globular high-gain TDRSS antenna
-
- Before assembling the scoop, all of the bolts are changed to ones of the correct size
-
- We (try to) compare two types of aluminized mylar as sun shield covering
-
- Tristan measures the shaded side with an IR thermometer
-
- Mark gets some sun
-
- Lorenzo checks the star camera pressure vessel for leaks. The leak checker has amazing (and not terribly useful) audio feedback
-
- The assembled side scoop
-
- The scoop, as it will be seen by the telescope
-
- Mark inserts the helium fill tube by mounting the 500L dewar
-
- Tristan waits for liquid to emerge from the cryostat end of the tube
-
- Greg warms the top of he dewar with a heat gun, so Mark’s hands don’t freeze (?)
-
- Tristan inserts the fill tube into the cryostat
-
- Blue foam, ever useful, is used to support the tube during the fill
-
- Carabiners hanging from crane get a good cooling from the plume of escaping helium
-
- Mark decides it’s a good time to break out a cigar
-
- Tristan removes the fill tube from the dewar, as gas vents around him
-
- Tristan gets consumed by the gas
-
- Juan is super excited about the awesomeness of his scoop
-
- Now with mounting hooks, the star camera hangs ominously in he middle of the room
-
- Nick plumbing
-
- Mark is very pleased that he got a new more powerful drill
-
- Mark then uses his new drill on the star camera
-
- Attaching the baffle in midair
-
- Now even more ominously foating camera—with baffle
-
- Mark (perched on the inner frame, as he seems to like) shepherds the baffle into place
-
- It takes three operators to use the stupid cranes here. Nick handles up-down
-
- Elio handles north -south (by pulling a chain)
-
- And Lorenzo handles east-west
-
- Mark spends a little while wrestling the camera into place
-
- …until deciding it doesn’t fit and a bolt needs to be shortened
-
- And finally the camera is kind of mounted
-
- Tristan tests if cold helium will still make you talk funny. It does.
-
- Juan stamps labels onto the scoop parts. Cringing with every mallet stroke
-
- The parts are all stamped like this. That’s a lot of stamping
-
- CSBF has a really good stock of stamps
-
- The ISC lens, with retrofitted belts and gears for focus and aperture
-
- Preparation for the mylar test. Solid foam on one side, only a bit on the other
-
- Matt, myself, and Tony are looking at something. I’m sure whatever it was, it was awesome
-
- Lorenzo goes for a cycle, the base in the background
-
- Apparently his bike ride brought him to the main sign
-
- Whatever goes on there, it’s patriotically Texan
Leave a Reply