Yesterday was the big push to get the cryostat closed and pumping out before we left for the night. We missed the usual shuttle back to McMurdo, but still finished in time to make it for dinner. During closing, it’s important to take hundreds of pictures, and I did.
In other news, the secondary mirror was attached to the primary, and I found a great software bug. In setting up a new decom computer to receive the biphase downlink, widow/israel wasn’t old and slow enough. This caused it to think it wasn’t working, even though it does. Then, after working great for a couple hours, the biphase link broke later in the day. Typical.
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- The primary mirror. Nice and shiny (at least if you can see submm light)
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- What I’ve been up to. Staring at downlink traces, and seeing if they make sense
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- Matt measures distance to ceiling beam. Gets 6.000m his first try
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- Trimming the black bit for HWPR floor
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- Optics box checkout
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- The Manifold
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- Star camera mounts
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- Leak Checker
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- Leak Checking
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- Mark gives a tour to some visiting teachers
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- The secondary mirror actuators are attached to the mirror
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- Lame heat strap. In principle allows faster cooling. In practice may almost do something
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- Juan holds the ladder
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- The big struts need little struts for temporary support
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- New getter, and Cryo BOB
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- The fridge, with its heat strapping attached
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- The rigid 0.3K strap needs to cleanly pass through the 1.4K optics box
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- Our ground station widow/israel. Now with bit sync, and working (at least at the time of the picture)
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- Elio feels the HWPR rotation, as Matt reads the potentiometer
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- More heat straps, and the beginnings of little legs that Mark is adding
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- The octopus hug strap, connecting the 1.4K pot around the optics box
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- The side opposite the fridge, with straps, BOB, etc
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- For completeness, the uninteresting last side of the optics box
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- The fridge and new vibration damping (or at least frequency increasing) legs
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- Mark is proud of his creation
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- Optics closed
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- Final, redundant sweep of pictures before closing: the fridge, pot, and straps
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- Final sweep, extended around to see the window
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- Final sweep, the BOB side
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- New angle: under the fridge (where trolls and heat switches live)
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- Closing. The first radiation shield goes on
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- We’re visited by Ben. A GA (General Assistant) who wanted to check our lab out
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- Naturally, Mark puts him to work, helping with the ton of bolts that are needed
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- The secondary is placed atop the struts
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- Juan wiggles his end into position
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- And Nick wiggles his too
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- The cryostat and receiver/DAS, now upright
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- Signal umbilical from above, and pump attachment at the sides
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