Outdoor Machinery, Broken (Then Fixed) Sun Shields

Yesterday I took a tour around outside LDB, looking at the variety of special-purpose sleds and trucks that they use out here. Unsurprisingly, many are made in Canada, just like our awesome parkas (though unlike Laura’s far less awesome imitation parka).

We also continue to go without liquid helium, needed to further cool the detectors. It was supposed to be here when we arrived and, after a long series of boondoggles, still isn’t here. So, people looking for other stuff to do decided to tackle the sun shields. During the process, a joint from one part to another was broken, and the stuck piece was difficult to remove. But, before the end of the day, the parts were repaired and the main shield frame assembled.

: Tristan borrowed a fancy camera for the trip. Juan, our resident expert, gives a lesson. And I’m way too close

: Elio explores under the stairs

: Our wooden platform, being de-iced

: Heavy-Duty Sled

: It’s mostly empty

: Balloon sled. Made in Canada. Matt says the balloon crate used to filed for customs under “Children’s Toys/Balloons. Qty: 1”

: Spool sled holds balloon during inflation. On the side are fill tubes

: The spool

: Stairs, should go to the highbay decks. I prefer stairs to nowhere

: Snow Paver, for paving snow

: Chopper and slicer stages, before the hydraulic flattener

: Big Plows

: Yes, 43280lbs is heavy

: Too heavy. Later it got stuck in the launch pad (its job is to drive around compacting the pad, and testing for soft spots, so this happens a lot) Courtesy Matt