(Backlog from the 3rd to 4th of November.)
With our cargo finally unpacked, and a large team all in place, we’re ready to work. We break up into several teams and work our asses off. (Continued ass-off working is my excuse for slowness in posting.) Several teams operate in parallel: preparing the vacuum vessel/cryostat (aka Theo), preparing SPIDER’s six telescope inserts, and building the gondola frame.
Removing the cherry picker
To free up valuable highbay space
Cornhole boards used for science!
Supporting the inner tube that lifts the bottom dome into place
Opening the bottom dome
With Jon and Anne
Ed prepared for top dome removal
Meanwhile, Jamil has been recruited to team insert
He opens a telescope insert to prepare it for flight
Anne performs the top dome magic
She is the master of this magic
Nat operates the hoist
Top dome opening
Top dome on its cart
Jon and the open bottom
Showing the six telescope ports
Opened telescopes
SPIDER hoodies
Jamil fiddles with telescope prep
Ed too
Insert land
The area beneath the mezzanine is dedicated to telescope prep
Anne fixes the tops of some telescopes
Lorenzo examines a focal plane
The shiny dark parts are our fancy supercondiucting detectors
Meanwhile, gondola assembly starts
Seans helps build the cart
Ivan too
A complete telescope focal plane (top) and fridge (bottom)
Focal plane with optics in background
Barth's horrible chair
Specially shipped for his comfort
Colourful wiring
In telescope insert
Ivan triumphs over Sean in arm wrestling
In the battle of the "Johns"
Anne makes a helium membrane to seal the the telescopes
Gondola assembly
Obligatory Joseph photo
He had recenty showed up
Bottom preparations
WIth SPIDER sweater
SPIDER shoes
Jamil wins
Installing the reaction wheel
Lorenzo shows where to photograph
As I document the finished focal planes before they get covered by telescope optics
A bug in the vacuum vessel
Presumably its been there a while
Sasha examines a focalplane
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