October 26, 2018 - A week after the Primary/Tertiary Mirror (M1M3) Cell was moved to the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab on the University of Arizona campus, the M1M3 Mirror was also moved to the Mirror Lab from a hangar at Million Air, where it has been stored since its fabrication in 2015.
The Mirror left the hangar at Tucson International Airport on a specialized trailer from Precision Heavy Haul and arrived at the Mirror Lab at approximately 4:00 a.m. on October 18th. As with the M1M3 Cell move last week, the Mirror waited outside the Lab until the outside air temperature warmed to the accepted level, and then was moved inside the building. The designated LSST workspace inside the Mirror Lab now accommodates the Mirror, the Mirror Cell, and the Mirror lifting fixture, so some strategic rearranging was done to ensure the space was used as efficiently as possible.
Later the same day, the lid on the Mirror's protective shipping container was removed and the Mirror was revealed for the first time since being placed in storage. The next day, the Mirror's protective blue polymer coating, originally applied before it was stored, was refreshed with a new layer.
Now that both the Cell and the Mirror are in the Lab, the next step is the installation of the Mirror onto the M1M3 Cell using the vacuum lifter.
October 19, 2018 - This is a truck you definitely don't want to be stuck behind. Very early in the morning (3:10 a.m., to be exact) on Wednesday, October 10, the vehicle carrying the LSST Primary/Tertiary Mirror (M1M3) Cell departed CAID Industries in Tucson. The M1M3 Cell, which is the steel structure that will support LSST's 8.4-meter mirror, weighs approximately 55,000 lbs.
The Cell had been loaded and secured on the truck the day before the move by teams from Precision Heavy Haul (PHH) and CAID, with oversight from Tucker Booth, LSST Telescope and Site Mechanical Engineer. The move itself was scheduled for the quiet morning hours to minimize disruption of traffic, and to minimize stops for the truck, which required more than two lanes of clearance when loaded with the Cell. Accompanied by three pilot vehicles and two state troopers, the truck and its oversized cargo made its way to the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab on the University of Arizona campus, arriving just before 4:00 a.m.
There was a pause in the action once the truck arrived, because the big, rolling door through which the Cell would enter the Mirror Lab couldn't be opened until the outside air temperature was within 10 degrees Fahrenheit of the Lab's inside temperature. This regulation exists to protect the mirrors currently being fabricated in the Lab from damage caused by abrupt temperature swings. While the group waited for the temperature to rise, the interior of the Mirror Lab was prepared for the acceptance of the Cell.
Teams from PHH and the Mirror Lab also used this time to move the truck into place and position the crane that would lift the Cell into the building. They also performed some test lifts of the Cell using the crane and nylon slings, to ensure the load was balanced correctly. At about 7:30 a.m., the door was cleared to open and the Cell was lifted off the truck and into the Mirror Lab.
"Everything went smoothly, thanks to the crews from CAID, PHH, and the Mirror Lab," said Booth. "Because they had things so well under control, my biggest challenge that morning was finding a 24-hour donut shop."
This week, a similar process will take place with the M1M3 Mirror itself, which will be moved from its airport storage facility to the Mirror Lab. Over the next few months, the Mirror and Cell will be integrated, and the fully assembled system will be tested thoroughly before being disassembled and shipped to Chile in 2019.
The transport cart for the Primary/Tertiary Mirror (M1M3) Cell Assembly, featured in this video, has been completed at CAID Industries in Tucson, AZ. On the summit of Cerro Pachón, this cart will be used to safely detach M1M3 from the telescope and transport it to the coating plant for periodic maintenance of the mirror. The cart will move along rails that are built into the floor of the observatory building, and a vertical platform lift will carry the cart between the telescope and maintenance levels of the building.
I am delighted to announce that Professor Zeljko Ivezic of the University of Washington has agreed to take on the role of Deputy Director of the LSST Construction Project, effective September 1, 2018.
September 4, 2018 - The LSST 2018 Project and Community Workshop, held in Tucson August 13-17, provided a valuable opportunity for face-to-face interactions between geographically distributed LSST project team members and participants from the LSST science community. This year’s annual gathering boasted the highest registration to date, with more than 300 people attending the meeting. Photos from the event are available in the LSST Gallery.
August 27, 2018 – The LSST 8.4-meter M1M3 Mirror Cell Assembly is a busy place. It includes the M1M3 monolithic steel surrogate mirror, the mirror support systems, the thermal control system, a laser tracker interface, the supporting steel structure, various mirror sensors, and the M1M3 control system. All of these components will work together to ensure the mirror holds its shape precisely as the telescope works through the night, pointing to various locations in the sky.
August 9 - Imagine you’re driving a ridiculously expensive sports car, and you have to park it in a space so tight there’s only an inch of clearance between you and the cars on either side, which, incidentally, are also ridiculously expensive sports cars. Feel the pressure? The Integration and Testing (I&T) Group at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory know this pressure well; they’re currently facing a comparable challenge as they work to integrate the 21 science rafts and the four corner rafts into the LSST Camera cryostat grid.
July 27, 2018 - The Education and Public Outreach (EPO) team hosted a teacher focus group in Tucson on July 16-18. This was the second in a series of events to collect feedback from educators about the formal education products being developed by the EPO team. Twelve teachers with students in advanced-middle school through college attended the focus group; their comments and survey results will inform the EPO team as they continue to refine the online resources provided for teachers during LSST Operations.
July 16, 2018 - In Paris, France, the Filter-Exchange team is currently performing combined testing of the prototype filter exchange components at the Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies (LPNHE). The filter exchange is the result of the collaborative work of five French IN2P3/CNRS laboratories.
I would like to call the attention of our more junior colleagues to the opportunity to provide input to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey process, described at the following link:
The deadline for applying for this opportunity is July 16.
As you know, the number one ranking that LSST received in the last decadal survey was crucial to our Project getting approved by both NSF and DOE. Your experience working on LSST will probably be of interest to the Astro2020 committee, and I believe they will be responsive to any comments you may have. I encourage you to apply.
Financial support for Rubin Observatory comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Cooperative Support Agreement No. 1202910, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515, and private funding raised by the LSST Corporation. The NSF-funded Rubin Observatory Project Office for construction was established as an operating center under management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). The DOE-funded effort to build the the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera (LSSTCam) is managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC). The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an
independent federal agency created by Congress
in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future. NSF and DOE will continue to support Rubin Observatory in its Operations phase. They will also provide support for scientific research with LSST data.
