During my first week in Antarctica, we completed the final preparations to join the cryostat (aka Llorothaag, or Lloro) to the balloon gondola that will support Lloro during the flight. The two systems were broadly complete already, with Lloro vacuum sealed and pre-cooling full of liquid nitrogen. But there were lots of little things to fix with cables, insulation, and testing. The week culminated in Spider finally coming together as a complete unit.
I was able to spend my first full day out at our Long Duration Balloon facility (LDB), which we commute to each day from McMurdo Station. After catching up with everyone, I spent much of the next couple days on mandatory training for new arrivals, before finally being able to get back to work.
My arrival made the field team almost complete, just waiting for Bill. The weekend after my arrival was American Thanksgiving, one of the big celebration days in McMurdo, and one of the rare two-day weekends (though, alas, not for me, as I paid the price for arriving so late). We managed to have the whole team together for the celebration meal, with both different shifts together. We were joined by a couple others: a colleague waiting to travel to the South Pole for a related project, as well as our wonderful chef out at LDB.
Note also that for this campaign I’ve brought a film camera (Nikon FM) with me. So there will be a bunch of photos, mostly from outside, that I won’t be posting until after I’ve returned home and had the film developed.
The highbay, as I find it on arrival
Gondola built, and Lloro closed up
Under the mezzanine
Lab space
On top of the mezzanine
Office space
Susan insulates Lloro
With blue foam and aluminized mylar (incomplete here)
Sasha pokes at the motorized valves
Steven refelects shinily
Joseph perfofrms ACS surgery
Riccardo models proper cryo PPE
(Personal Protective Equipment). And a Spider hoodie
Corwin uses the mini mill
Recently obtained for
View of the highbay again
Can you spot the differences?
Upgrading the drives in our detector readout computers
Soldering iron + heat gun
= winning
Connecting the battery power system
Johanna puts the baffle rims together
Flight campaigns have many opportunities for arts and crafts
Inside the star camera computer
Which I didn't want to open. But I didn't have to want to
Packing an ECW bag of wine
For thanksgiving dinner
Thanksgiving dinner
I'm thankful for all these people (especially LDB chef Dan, at front right)
Snowy Sunday
We're only the second van to brave the roads after some new snow drifts on Sunday
Jason models a new Spider shirt
Installing some final pre-lift Lloro insulation with Susan
Simon pulls
As we rotate Lloro from vertical to lift position
Gondola and Lloro
Apart for the last time
Gondola floor
With much of the electronics boxes and cables installed
Sasha and cables
She neatened up all of the cables on the inner frame.
Cryo plumbing
In the state during nitrogen fills
Lloro's other side
And the front profile
I take a little tour pre-lift
The front
Covered telescope ports, and cryo electronics
End of Lloro tour
Rotating the gondola
To lift position
Corwin cleans the "hockey sticks"
These arms are part of the elevation drive system, as well as the elevation locks for launch
Testing elevatino drives
With helpful holders
Rigging Lloro to lift
with the temporary spreader bar
Lloro lifted
Sneaking into place
With millimeters to spare!
Trying to finely align the crystat
On both sides!
Unrigging
Spider together!
Spider together!
In profile
A little nitrogen splash
We want a bit more cooling before starting to fill liquid helium
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