Because CSBF will be taking a long Independence Day weekend, we spent yesterday frantically putting everything together to ensure that we would have an opportunity to go out to the pad this morning (we did, tune in tomorrow/later). We had to demount the pivot and cameras, fill the cryostat then mount it. Then everything went back on including the complete sun shields, GPS (aka Seppy) and the magnetometer (aka Maggy). And the inner frame was rebalanced—Laura and Nick must like balancing, because they do it constantly. This marked the most complete BLAST had ever been, and the first time the elevation drive handled a fully populated inner frame.
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- The Cryostat was hungry and needed helium. Helium!
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- Somebody leaves a cryogenics glove in a place it can’t handle
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- Snowy tube, and the receiver crate disconnected by Elio
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- Insides of the receiver crate, without any of the cryostat wires
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- Jeff removes the cryostat’s belly band
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- We’ve lifted the cryostat a few times now, but it’s still pretty entertaining
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- (Lor-)Enzo
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- Eyes on the cryostat
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- In Mark’s absence, Jeff is the designated watcher
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- Lorenzo on Crane
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- Jeff adjusts the support bearings
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- Me, somewhat inverted while working on the SBSC
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- Barth is sad or confused, or bored, or something
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- More of the oh-so-rare pictures of me working (decide for yourself what that says of my work habits)
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- The now much more assembled SBSC
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- Nick prepares to move the sun shield (by himself?)
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- Laura helps
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- The CFBF Hard Cables for TDRSS, etc
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- Several people carry the sun shields towards the door. I use my camera/get-out-of-labour-free-card
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- The shields are designed to just barely fit out the door (rather, the slightly narrower one in Antarctica)
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- More shield carrying
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- The Seppy antenna boom
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- Still more shield carrying. The occasion seemed very picture worthy at the time (and apparently still does, otherwise I would post less)
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- At last, it approaches the other door
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- Notice how the U-channel with the antennas is a tight fit? This is important later
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- The side scoop had to be moved too
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- The side scoop arrives at the south door
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- CSBF’s quad GPS mount, now with antennas
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- The HGA mount, now with cables
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- Pulling the scoop up by its scoop straps
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- Mouting the scoop again, with a good view from outside
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- One of the cute little monitors CSBF uses for the SIP
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- SIP side, with power supply and another monitor
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- The pivot is attached to lift the sun shields (cables C-clamped to the base)
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- Upright shields, with many antennas
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- The mystical high gain TDRSS antenna
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- They mount it using a people lift (the white hemisphere is part of its shield)
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- The shields are lifted by the crane, to carry over and mount on the gondola
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- Lorenzo steadies one corner
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- The flying shields are almost as imposing as the gondola was
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- Laura operates the crane chain
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- Come and take it! The shield straddles the outer frame
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- BLAST-Pol official enters more-complete-than-ever-before territory
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- ROCC10 and the TDRSS simulator that I didn’t have pictures of before
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- Elio climbs around the gondola
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- Natalie climbs up to work on Seppy
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- When up there, she debugs a screwy power cable
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- Nick holds the ladder, and looks at me funny
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- When mounting the extra shield pieces, Tristan demonstrates his disposition towards precarious climbing
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- More shots of me working, as Tristan and I attach the chin
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- I wrestle the bolts into place
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- At the lowest elevation, the side scoop and chin clash. This happens much higher than expected
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- More the the fore shields clashing
That clash of shields broke my heart, but solutions are on the way!