When the campaign started, June 15 was set as the target for having the cryostat closed and the vacuum pump turned on. Somehow, by 11pm this dream was realized.
Before that, Bill played whack-a-grad-student. And the suspension cables were made shiny.
(Yesterday was a day off, during which I took no photos.)
Johanna feeding the dog
Becky has been trying to get the name Tortilla to stick
Barth suverys his damage
We'd covered a suspension cable, but didn't account for stretching under load
Arts and crafts with the professors
BIll helps add a sliding sheath in the cable cover
Arts and crafts with the professors
The end result
Shiny cables that are immune to sunlight
Jamil uses the mega ratchet extension
To attach the reaction wheel
Natalie levels a reaction wheel brick
Don cleaning
There was nasty residue on some of the parts
Cryostat: fully covered bottom
Cryostat: fully covered top
Ziggy finishes things up
Preparing to close up, Ed wheels the top dome out
Underside of top dome
With four of the recessed windows installed
Whack-a-grad-student
Graduate students live a peaceful existence popping in and out of windows
Until Big Bad Bill arrives and starts whacking them
Starting with Anne
Big Bad Bill approaches his next innocent and unsuspecting victim
Well, Ed's not so unsuspecting. Or innocent?
Johanna braces herself
Sasha copes with her untimely demise by laughing
And Natalie seems mildly amused
The cryostat. Upright
Lorenzo for scale
The bottom dome
Bottom dome is lifted into place by inflating an inner tube underneath
Final checkout up top
The gondola team had also put some things together
Jon prepares for pump activation
Celebration
Leave a Reply