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FREE Public Lecture

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The Public is invited to attend a FREE Lecture, Thursday, August 17th, 7pm, at the Westin La Paloma Canyon Ballrooms, 3800 E. Sunrise Drive, Tucson, AZ. Project Manager Victor Krabbendam and Astronomer Chuck Claver will describe the revolutionary Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) from its motivation and early design to science operations which start in 2022.  Currently under construction in Chile, LSST will survey the entire visible southern sky every few days for a decade – the widest, fastest and deepest view of the night sky ever observed.

Put a Dome on it!

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August 4, 2017 – Exciting work took place on calibration hill on Cerro Pachón this week culminating with the Ash Dome being safely lifted onto the Auxiliary Telescope enclosure on August 3rd. LSST Summit Integration Engineer Freddy Muñoz and the LSST summit team first coordinated the assembly of the dome on the ground beside the building. This multi-day process included building a custom spreader bar to position the lifting cables and protect the dome during the lift...

Camera DAQ Installation at NCSA

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July 28, 2017 - The recent installation of a Camera Data Acquisition (DAQ) System at NCSA is a major milestone for early integration of Data Management (DM) software with LSST Camera hardware. This single board system, constructed by the camera team at SLAC and intended to read out the camera, was installed in a rack at NCSA last week, connected through a NCSA-provided DAQ Client and Management (Linux) host. The integrated system is currently emulating a camera, acquiring images which can be read out using custom API software. Jim Parsons, NCSA Level 1 System Lead for LSST, worked with SLAC DAQ physicist Gregg Thayer to ensure the DAQ is fully accessible and the software reliable. The complete system will require 14 such boards to read out the full 3.2 Gpix LSST camera.

Taking the Fall for LSST

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July 21, 2017 - Technicians, engineers, and scientists who will be working at the LSST facility on Cerro Pachón will often be working “at height,” a term that refers to any workspace four feet or more off the ground. To prepare for their upcoming roles in Assembly Integration Verification (AIV) and Commissioning in Chile, many LSST project employees will be participating in fall protection training courses over the coming year. The first of these courses was offered in late June at safety equipment manufacturer Certex’s facility in Tucson, AZ.

Testing in Tucson

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July 13, 2017 - Critical work has been underway in the lab at LSST’s Project Office in Tucson, AZ: testing of the static supports for LSST’s Primary/Tertiary Mirror (M1M3). When the 8.4-meter mirror is not under active support by the pneumatic actuators, it will rest on an array of wire rope isolators (also referred to as static supports). 355 of these supports will be installed on the mirror cell deck plate. The supports are designed to safely support the mirror under gravity and seismic loading while limiting the motion of the mirror to safe levels.

LSST Asteroid Day Live Videos Now Available

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July 7, 2017 - Programming provided by LSST for Asteroid Day Live, a 24-hour broadcast about space and asteroids that aired on June 30, is now available on the LSST YouTube channel. You can also find the LSST videos, along with all the other Asteroid Day Live programming, on the Asteroid Day Live website. Read more about LSST’s participation in Asteroid Day 2017 in this blog post from last week. 

 

 

LSST Celebrates Asteroid Day 2017

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June 28, 2017- Again this year, LSST will participate in Asteroid Day, a UN-sanctioned global day to raise awareness about asteroids and in particular how we protect Earth from potential asteroid impacts. Asteroid Day 2017 takes place June 30th and is sponsored by the B612 Foundation, an American-based non-profit organization created to protect the Earth from dangerous asteroids through early detection.

Lights, Camera, Interview

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June 20, 2017 - Sandrine Thomas, Project Scientist for LSST’s Telescope and Site Subsystem, took some time out from her busy work schedule last week to sit down with Alison Rose of Inigo Films for an extended on-camera interview. Interviews were also conducted with LSST Director Steve Kahn, LSST Deputy Director Beth Willman, and LSST Project Manager Victor Krabbendam.

Each of the four interviewees gave his or her own perspective on the rewards and challenges involved in leading a diverse, distributed team tasked with building a revolutionary telescope. The interviews were conducted as informal conversations, allowing for in-depth explorations of interesting topics.

On Track

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June 2, 2017 - Members of LSST’s Primary/Tertiary Mirror (M1M3) integration team recently completed training on the Leica Absolute Laser Tracker AT-930, a sophisticated tool for collecting precise measurements in three dimensions. The laser tracker will be used for a multitude of tasks associated with M1M3 integration, including accurate positioning of static supports and wedges for hardpoints.

Azimuth Advancements

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May 26, 2017 - Work on the Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA) by subcontractor Asturfeito in Spain is progressing rapidly. An auxiliary second level platform has been installed, providing access to the azimuth floor. In addition, azimuth radial bearings have been placed and vertical seismic stops have been trial fitted. Currently, the plan is to float the azimuth structure on the hydrostatic bearings in July, which will be the first time the base of the TMA supports the full structural load.

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Financial support for Rubin Observatory comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Cooperative Agreement No. 1258333, 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.   




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