<\/a>Vy works on a telescope insert <\/div>
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<\/a>Simon and Elle work on another <\/div>
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<\/a>They work together on their first day after arrivinig <\/div>
Conveniently for those of us trying to photograph the new arrivals at work<\/div><\/div><\/div>!["Team Overalls" start to assemble the gondola \u2022 <a style="font-size:0.8em;" href="http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/27717602@N03\/52143299062\/" target="_blank">View on Flickr<\/a>](https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/52143299062_0334fe6fd4_m.jpg "\\"Team Overalls\\" start to assemble the gondola")
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<\/a>"Team Overalls" start to assemble the gondola <\/div>
Over in the other highbay. Starting with the ground support cart.<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Day off <\/div>
On our first day off, we visit the drive through safari park<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Feed me! <\/div>
This miniature royal yak neatly sums up the experience<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Stinky boy <\/div>
Poses in front of a pond<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Back to inserts <\/div>
And back to work<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Finishing the last IRTHM <\/div>
It gets a rotation stage to earn the R in Insert Rotation Thingamajig<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Suren poses with his handy work <\/div>
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<\/a>All six inserts at once! <\/div>
We can now fully parallelize<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>The housekeeping break-out panel <\/div>
We try to condense wiring messiness into a few places. This is one of the neater ones<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Hiding the mess again <\/div>
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<\/a>Lloro's top dome open <\/div>
The first stage of opening is to have the riggers lift this off with a crane<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Bottom dome in a corner <\/div>
The lighter bottom dome can be taken off by hand<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Neutral resting position <\/div>
On the cart, when empty<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Suren pulls <\/div>
To a non-neutral horizontal position for easier access<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Surprise portrait <\/div>
I catch Simon having a snack<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Elle insepcts carbon fiber legs <\/div>
Which support the separate temperature stages in the insert.<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Susan takes it outside <\/div>
With sunglasses and new gloves<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>To look cool while cleaning insert wraps <\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>![Joseph over in "Bemco-land" \u2022 <a style="font-size:0.8em;" href="http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/27717602@N03\/52144557509\/" target="_blank">View on Flickr<\/a>](https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/52144557509_b9367b1ceb_m.jpg "Joseph over in \\"Bemco-land\\"")
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<\/a>Joseph over in "Bemco-land" <\/div>
Where we continue to prepare for thermal-vacuum testing<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Vy at her desk <\/div>
Dealing with another experiment (SuperBIT) temporarily<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Lloro's empty bottom <\/div>
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<\/a>Lloro's empty top <\/div>
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<\/a>It's full of faces! <\/div>
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<\/a>An uncovered detector focal plane <\/div>
Though the detectors themselves are hidden behind yet another filter<\/div><\/div><\/div>![Installing a "spittooon" \u2022 <a style="font-size:0.8em;" href="http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/27717602@N03\/52144470216\/" target="_blank">View on Flickr<\/a>](https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/52144470216_27f3bb39b9_m.jpg "Installing a \\"spittooon\\"")
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<\/a>Installing a "spittooon" <\/div>
A layer of magnetic shielding and filters that surrounds the detectors<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Tiny Cat <\/div>
Our slightly feral friend that lives near the hotel<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Susan climbs into the back of the busy Bemco chamber <\/div>
Somehow<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Preparing to insert inserts <\/div>
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<\/a>Corwin reflects <\/div>
On the filter stacks beneath an insert's vacuum window<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Elle and Y3 <\/div>
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<\/a>Two inserts inserted, from the top <\/div>
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<\/a>A half-wave plate on top of the lower insert <\/div>
Allows us to rotate the polarization signal we measure, making the detection more robust<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Filter on top of other insert <\/div>
This thermal filter allows the detectors to get cold, while still being able to see the sky<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Insert insertion <\/div>
Using people power<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Getting closer <\/div>
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<\/a>Jared helps from the front <\/div>
Another new arrival<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Inside the Bemco chamber (round 1) <\/div>
We finally have everything ready to test in simulate flight conditions<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Simon attempts to close the door <\/div>
Unsuccessfully<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Vy inspects an insert <\/div>
Before it can be loaded.<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Suren install heat straps <\/div>
To connect different parts of the insert to our different temperature stages at 2 K and 4 K (degrees above absolute zero)<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Joseph closes the door successfully <\/div>
He's the flight engineer that has been helping us out. (He was the official engineer for Spider's first flight)<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Bemco business <\/div>
Cable feed-throughs into the vacuum chamber. And a pressure gauge showing 2 mbar (1\/500 of normal atmosphere)<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Testing a vacuum window <\/div>
Corwin measures how far it deflects<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Johanna adjusts a half-wave plate rotation mechanism <\/div>
One of them got a little wobbly during shipping.<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Cool Spider sweater <\/div>
Wearable thanks to extreme air conditioning in Texas<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Corwin IB checking <\/div>
This automatically checks that all of the detectors are connected. Using the readout electronics crates recently released from their Bemco test<\/div><\/div>
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<\/a>Elle inspects a thermal filter stack <\/div>
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<\/a>And poses with her handiwork <\/div>
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<\/a>Catching Bill doing real work <\/div>
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