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Tuesday, February 27, 2018
A ship similar to the ones that will transport LSST components is seen here docked in the Port of Coquimbo, Chile.  Image credit:  M. Logue, LSST/NSF/AURA
Main Image Caption: 
A ship similar to the ones that will transport LSST components is seen here docked in the Port of Coquimbo, Chile. Image credit: M. Logue, LSST/NSF/AURA
Image Credit: 
M. Logue, LSST/NSF/AURA

February 27, 2018 - In calendar year 2018, almost $100M of equipment will be transported to Cerro Pachón from the U.S. and around the world for integration into the LSST summit facility building. Major items include the Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA), the Coating Chamber, the Dome, the Primary/Tertiary Mirror (M1M3) and Secondary Mirror (M2), the mirror cells, and the hexapod rotator (with its twin spare). These items will be gathered from several locations, including Rochester, NY; Tucson, AZ; Denver, CO; Italy, Spain, and Germany, and shipped to the Chilean port of Coquimbo for ground transport to the summit. The designer of much of the complex, but flexible, logistics program is LSST Principal Surveyor Michael Logue.

Michael joined the project in May of 2017 with over 30 years of broad cargo and freight management experience including hands-on project cargo supervision. He is assisting the Telescope and Site team by developing a logistical plan and overseeing its execution for the timely and safe delivery of all critical components.  Compared to many other projects Michael has been involved with, LSST involves “diverse logistical challenges with unique goals and, ultimately, bold positive outcomes.” The LSST summit webcam and current images in the Gallery show construction progress; currently trusses for the dome are being delivered in large shipping containers from Italy and their installation has begun.

Although shipping logistics and timetables are still being finalized, at this point we anticipate the TMA, Coating Chamber, and the Mirrors, Cells, and Surrogates will travel together on chartered specialized heavy lift cargo ships. Other components will be shipped in about 70 x 40’ shipping containers as orchestrated by the selected forwarding company Kuehne + Nagel. Our contracted shipping company, BBC Chartering, will have a cargo ship stop in Antwerp, Belgium or Hamburg, Germany for the Coating Chamber and Washing Station, then travel on to the port of Aviles in Spain to pick up the TMA, and then proceed onward to Chile. In parallel, one ship will depart Houston with components previously shipped by ground (from CO and AZ) by Precision Heavy Haul to that port. The M2 is likely to be transported to Albany, NY, for travel down the Hudson directly to Chile. The Auxiliary Telescope will be transported by container from Tucson, via Houston to Chile in early March.

After getting everything to the Chilean port of Coquimbo, it will take over 100 individual trips to the summit with truckloads full of components in conjunction with our heavy hauler, Javier Cortes. Pieces will be stored on AURA property just below the summit and then brought up in a timely sequence as integration proceeds. Once all the components are on the summit, the existing logistical situation on the top, already a shell game of relocating pieces awaiting installation to make room for others, will become even more complex exercise involving over 6000 freight tons as LSST integration continues to move forward. 

This is an extremely complex period of activity for LSST, putting the pieces together to build this unique facility. Stay tuned for updates over the next year as we stay on track for full occupancy of the summit facility by year’s end.   

Friday, February 16, 2018

February 16, 2018 - An Education and Public Outreach (EPO) focus group for teachers was held in Tucson on February 3-4. Led by LSST Education Specialist Ardis Herrold, the event gathered 11 high school and college educators from across the U.S. to solicit feedback on prototypes of the online educator tools, including Jupyter Notebook-based interactive astronomy investigations, currently being developed by the EPO team. Opinions provided by the participants will help guide future stages of EPO product development, ensuring the continued alignment of EPO products with educator needs.

Over the course of the two-day focus group meeting teachers were introduced to the suite of online tools that will be available through EPO’s Education Hub. The Education Hub, a section of the larger EPO Portal, will house resources specific to educators such as national education standards alignment and assessment guides, information about professional development opportunities, and classroom investigations featuring real LSST Data in Jupyter Notebooks.

“This meeting was important,” reflected Ardis, “because it was the first time anyone other than our team has looked at what we’re developing. Although we anticipated there would be some confusion with the notebooks, we were pleasantly surprised at how easily the teachers figured out how to work with them.”

Throughout each day, teachers filled out detailed questionnaires created by EPO Evaluation Specialist Ellen Bechtol in order to capture their reactions to the material presented. “The central question of whether they would use these tools in their classroom,” says Ellen, “was answered by this group with a strong ‘yes.’” All of the feedback from this focus group will help the EPO team prioritize product features so that time and resources are spent on those most useful to educators.

The teachers who participated in this focus group meeting were carefully selected by the EPO team for their expertise in both astronomy and education. The fact that they were enthusiastic about the direction of LSST’s EPO products is encouraging, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle; once the EPO team has had the chance to refine the notebooks a bit further, they will seek opinions from a group that represents a more typical population of educators. That focus group is currently scheduled for July 16-18. In the meantime, Ardis hopes to conduct an informal event for local educators and/or astronomy students. “If we can test reactions to some of the individual components ahead of time,” she says, “We can refine the way we will present them to the teachers in July in order to get the quality feedback we need.”

More information about the full range of LSST EPO activities can be found in this news item from October 2017. Additional photos from the focus group meeting are available in the LSST Gallery.

 

 

 

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

PROJECT & SCIENCE NEWS -  Noticias del Proyecto

A meeting of AURA’s Management Council for LSST (AMCL) took place in Tucson on January 29-30. The AMCL, which meets three times a year, is AURA’s oversight and advocacy committee for LSST. AURA President Matt Mountain was present along with LSST Senior Management for a productive agenda of presentations and discussions. The AMCL will meet again April 19-20 in Washington, DC.  

The LSST Overview paper will be issued soon; to prepare for this, the Project Office has initiated verification of the “Builders List” in order to correctly credit and recognize the efforts of LSST team members.

LSST’s Auxiliary Telescope, which has been under refurbishment at the LSST Project Office in Tucson, will soon undergo functional testing of its mechanical and electrical systems. Read more about the Auxiliary Telescope and its role in the LSST survey in this recent news post.

The Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC) winter meeting was held at at SLAC on February 5-9. More than 170 participants attended the event, which included an opportunity to visit the LSST Camera clean room. The meeting kicked off with the 7th edition of Dark Energy School, a one-day interactive session designed to prepare new and existing DESC members for science with LSST.

The LSST Solar System Science Collaboration has assembled a science roadmap listing science priorities with LSST; the document is now available here.

Jim Bosch gave the latest in a series of Project Science Team talks for the Science Collaboration Chairs on January 30. His presentation, an overview of LSST Data Pipelines, was the first of six Data Management (DM) talks planned over the next few months. Slides from this presentation can be found on the LSST Scientists web page.

We are very sorry to announce the passing of Walt Innes on Monday, February 5. Walt was a crucial member of the LSST Camera team at SLAC, contributing invaluably to a number of aspects of the system. Walt had a long career at SLAC as an instrumental physicist; prior to joining the LSST project, he played a key role on BaBar and other particle physics projects. Walt will be fondly remembered and sorely missed.

PERSONNEL NEWS

Claudia Araya Salvo joined the Education & Public Outreach subsystem as EPO Chile Coordinator on February 5. Based in Santiago with regular travel to La Serena and Tucson, AZ, Claudia will be responsible for developing educational and other web-based materials in Spanish that are uniquely suited to the needs of Chilean educators, informal science education facilities, and the general public.

Michael Rodriquez joined the Systems Engineering subsystem on February 12. In his role as Senior Systems Engineer, Michael will be responsible for development and oversight of verification plans and test cases for system-level requirements and Interface Control Documents (ICDs) as well as assisting in acceptance of critical subsystems and other tasks as assigned.

UPCOMING MEETINGS with LSST INVOLVEMENT

(those with asterisk* are LSSTC funded):

2018

 

February 28-March 2

LSST Telescope & Site Subsystem Meeting, Tucson, AZ

March 5-9

LSST Systems Engineering/Data Management Joint Subsystem Meeting, Pasadena, CA

April 11-13

LSST Education & Public Outreach Subsystem Meeting, Tucson, AZ

April 16-18

LSSTC Congressional visits, Washington DC

April 18-20

Statistical Challenges for Large-scale Structure in the Era of LSST, Oxford, UK*

April 19-20

AMCL Meeting, Washington DC

June 10-15

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Meeting, Austin, TX

June 11-15

LSST@Europe3, Lyon, France*

June 19-21

Data Visualization and Exploration in the LSST Era, University of IL/NCSA, Champaign, IL*

August 13-17

LSST Project and Community Workshop 2018, Tucson, AZ


Noticias del Proyecto & Científicas

Una reunión del Consejo de Administración AURA para LSST (AMCL) tomo lugar en Tucson en enero 29-30. La AMCL, que se reúne tres veces al año, es el comité de AURA de apoyo y supervisión de LSST. El Presidente de AURA Matt Mountain estuvo presente junto con la alta gerencia de LSST para una productiva agenda de presentaciones y discusiones. La AMCL se reunirá de nuevo el 19 y 20 de abril en Washington, DC.  

El documento general de LSST será publicado pronto, para prepararse para esto, la Oficina del Proyecto ha iniciado la verificación de las "Builders List" con el fin de dar crédito correctamente y reconocer los esfuerzos de los miembros del equipo LSST.

El Telescopio Auxiliar de LSST, que se ha estado remodelando en la oficina del proyecto de LSST en Tucson, pronto se someterá a la prueba funcional de sus sistemas eléctricos y mecánicos. Lea más sobre el telescopio auxiliar y su papel en la estudio de LSST en este reciente news post

La reunión de invierno de la Colaboración Científica de la Energía Oscura (DESC) tomo lugar en SLAC el 5-9 de febrero. Más de 170 participantes asistieron al evento, que incluyó una visita a la sala limpia de la Cámara de LSST. La reunión arrancó con la séptima edición de la Escuela de Energía Oscura, una sesión interactiva de un día diseñada para preparar nuevos y existentes miembros de DESC para la ciencia con LSST.

La Colaboración de Ciencia del Sistema Solar LSST ha reunido una hoja de ruta científica con un listado de prioridades con LSST; el documento ya está disponible aquí here

Jim Bosch dio la última de una serie de charlas del Equipo Científico del Proyecto para la Presidencia de la Colaboración Científica el 30 de enero. Su presentación, un resumen de los Ductos de Datos de LSST, fue el primero de seis charlas de Data Management (DM) previstas durante los próximos meses. Las diapositivas de esta presentación pueden encontrarse en el LSST Scientists web page.

Sentimos anunciar el fallecimiento de Walt Innes, el lunes 5 de febrero. Walt era un miembro fundamental del equipo de cámara LSST en SLAC, contribuyendo invaluablemente a varios aspectos del sistema. Walt tuvo una larga carrera en SLAC como físico instrumental; antes de unirse al proyecto LSST, desempeñó un papel clave en BaBar y otros proyectos de física de partículas. Walt será recordado y lo echaremos mucho de menos. 

Noticias de personal

Claudia Araya Salvo se unió al subsistema de Educación y Divulgación Pública como coordinador de EPO en Chile el 5 de febrero. Basada en Santiago con viajes regulares a La Serena y Tucson, AZ, Claudia será responsable del desarrollo educativo basado en web y otros materiales en español que son especialmente adaptados a las necesidades de educadores chilenos, instalaciones educativas informales de científicas, y el público en general. 

Michael Rodríguez se unió al subsistema de Ingeniería de Sistemas el 12 de febrero. En su función como Ingeniero de Sistemas Senior, Michael será responsable del desarrollo y supervisión de planes y casos de prueba de verificación de requisitos de nivel de sistema y documentos de control de interfaz (ICDs), así como ayudar en la aceptación de los subsistemas críticos y otras tareas asignadas. 

Próximas reuniones con participación de LSST 

(aquellos con un asterisco* son financiados por LSSTC):

2018

 

Febrero28-Marzo 2

Reunión del Subsistemade LSSTTelescopio & Sitio, Tucson, AZ

Marzo 5-9

Reunión de Subsistema en Conjunto deLSST Ingeniería de Sistemas/Gestión de Datos, Pasadena, CA

Abril 11-13

Reunión del Subsistema deLSST de Educación y DifusiónPública, Tucson, AZ

Abril 16-18

Visitas del Congresode LSSTC, Washington, D.C.

Abril18-20

Desafíos Estadísticos de la Estructura a Gran Escala en la Era de LSST, Oxford, UK*

Abril 19-20

ReuniónAMCL, Washington, D.C.

Junio 10-15

SPIE Reunión de Telescopios e Instrumentación Astronómica, Austin, TX

Junio11-15

LSST@Europe3, Lyon, Francia*

Junio 19-21

Visualización de Datos y Exploración en la Épocade LSST, Universidad de IL/NCSA, Champaign, IL*

Agosto 13-17

Taller del Proyecto y Comunitario LSST2018, Tucson, AZ

 

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

February 6, 2018 - In tandem with LSST’s construction on Cerro Pachón, a smaller telescope will soon be assembled on nearby calibration hill, a short distance away from the main LSST Facility. LSST’s 1.2-meter Auxiliary Telescope, a gift from Edgar Smith, will measure atmospheric transmission, which refers to how directly light is transmitting through the Earth’s atmosphere in a given spot, as opposed to being absorbed or scattered. Because the presence of certain molecules and particles in the atmosphere will change the color of light detected by the LSST telescope, data collected by the Auxiliary Telescope, as it mirrors the nightly movements of LSST, will inform the catalog corrections that need to be made to LSST data in order to render it more accurate.

Elements in the atmosphere that affect how light is detected by a ground based telescope like LSST include water, oxygen, and ozone, as well as aerosols like sea salt, dust from volcanoes, and smoke from forest fires. The presence and quantity of these elements varies from night to night, so the Auxiliary Telescope will provide this important complementary data for LSST throughout survey operations. According to Calibration Hardware Scientist Patrick Ingraham, “Having a dedicated auxiliary telescope supporting the main telescope is somewhat unique, and it will increase the quality of data produced by LSST.”

The Auxiliary Telescope itself wasn’t built from scratch; it’s an existing telescope that has been repurposed for its role in the LSST survey. Since being moved from its original location on nearby Kitt Peak in May, 2014, it’s been housed in the workshop at LSST’s Project Office in Tucson, AZ. Refurbishment work has included replacement of all the telescope’s electrical parts including the motors and the position encoders, which record the exact position of the telescope at any given time. Mechanically speaking, the telescope is largely unchanged. Its mirrors, which were removed while work was done, will be recoated and replaced once the telescope arrives on Cerro Pachón; they are currently in separate protective crates that will protect them during shipping.

Currently, the subcontractor working on the refurbishment project is almost finished with the wiring of the telescope’s electrical components. Once that’s complete, the telescope will undergo functional testing of its mechanical and electrical systems. Individual tasks that make up this testing include driving the telescope toward its upper and lower limits and ensuring the system will shut off before those limits are reached (preventing damage to the telescope), testing for excessive vibration, and testing the speed at which the telescope slews, or moves from one spot to the next. Extensive functional testing is critical now, because once the telescope is on Cerro Pachón there won’t be sufficient facilities to easily make repairs. Optical testing of the telescope will occur after the telescope is installed in its facility on the summit and re-integrated with its mirrors.

Once the telescope is officially ready to be shipped from Tucson to Chile, the individual telescope assemblies will be packed in custom crates, and these crates will be loaded into a shipping container. It will take about 2 months for the shipping container to get from Tucson to Cerro Pachón. Once there, the telescope will be installed in a few pieces, with a crane, through the dome of its facility on calibration hill. Photos of the Auxiliary Telescope in the workshop, as well as the facility on Cerro Pachón, can be viewed and downloaded from the LSST Gallery

 

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

PROJECT & SCIENCE NEWS- Noticias del Proyecto

The 231st AAS Meeting concluded on January 12 in National Harbor, MD. LSST hosted a well-attended Town Hall during the meeting; slides from presentations given by Beth Willman, Federica Bianco, and Adam Bolton at the event are available here. LSST also staffed an exhibit booth (photo here) in the NSF Pavilion throughout the meeting.

To alleviate persistent communications challenges with terminology LSST will no longer use the Data Management terms “Level 1,” “Level 2,” and “Level 3” for communication with the scientific community about LSST data products. Instead we will use the clearer terms “Prompt Products,” “Data Release Products,” and “User Generated Products,” respectively. This terminology is consistent with the descriptions of each of the three product types in Project documents. A selection of community-facing Project documents and webpages are being updated to reflect the change.

A Provisional Acceptance Test of the washing facility will take place later this month at the Von Ardenne facilities in Dresden, Germany. The review includes observation of the washing boom, seen in this video provided by LSST Coating Chamber Engineer Tomislav Vicuna. This special machinery will remove the old mirror coating and wash the mirror prior to moving it into the coating chamber for recoating. More information about the process for washing and coating LSST’s mirrors can be found in this recent news item.

The Back Flange of the LSST Camera was received at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory last week (click here for a photo). Fabricated from a single piece of aluminum by subcontractor Keller Technologies in Buffalo, NY, the Back Flange provides structural support for the rest of the Camera and is the mechanical interface between the Camera and Telescope. At SLAC, purge line parts and covers will be attached to the flange over the next few months. Then it will be shipped to IN2P3 in France, where it will be integrated with the filter exchange carousel and auto changer.

The LSST Base Facility in La Serena gained a noticeable addition at the end of December  when a tower crane, necessary for ongoing renovation and construction, was installed on the AURA Recinto. The crane, at 29 meters high, is now the Recinto's tallest landmark. The base of the crane can be seen on the LSST Base Facility webcam, and a full photo is available in the LSST Gallery.

PERSONNEL NEWS

Bo Xin has been promoted to the position of Deputy Systems Scientist.  Bo will assist Systems Scientist Chuck Claver in leading the System Integration Team as part of the Commissioning effort. We’re so glad Bo has taken on this role; please join us in congratulating him.

Julio Alvarez joined the Telescope & Site subsystem on January 17 as a Civil Engineering intern. Julio is a student in his 6th year of Civil Engineering study at the University of La Serena. He will work with Enrique Figueroa and Oscar Nuñez on the Base Facility construction and the Pachón Hotel addition projects. His primary duties will be assisting in work inspection as well as in the review and response to contractor consultations, change requests and other submittals. He will be based primarily in La Serena but will also travel to Pachón to assist with the hotel addition project and to visit the Summit Facility.

UPCOMING MEETINGS with LSST INVOLVEMENT

(those with asterisk* are LSSTC funded):

2018

 

February 5

2018 DESC Meeting/Dark Energy School, SLAC, CA*

February 5-9

LSST-DESC Collaboration Meeting, SLAC, Menlo Park, CA*

February 12

Project Office Meeting, Tucson, AZ

February 28-March 2

LSST Telescope & Site Subsystem Meeting, Tucson, AZ

March 5-9

LSST Systems Engineering/Data Management Joint Subsystem Meeting, Pasadena, CA

April 11-13

LSST Education & Public Outreach Subsystem Meeting, Tucson, AZ

April 16-18

LSSTC Congressional visits, Washington DC

April 18-20

Statistical Challenges for Large-scale Structure in the Era of LSST, Oxford, UK*

April 19-20

AMCL Meeting, Washington DC

June 10-15

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Meeting, Austin, TX

June 11-15

LSST@Europe3, Lyon, France*

June 19-21

Data Visualization and Exploration in the LSST Era, University of IL/NCSA, Champaign, IL*

August 13-17

LSST Project and Community Workshop 2018, Tucson, AZ


NOTICIAS DEL PROYECTO Y CIENTIFICAS

La reunion 231st AAS Meeting concluyó el 12 de enero en National Harbor, MD. LSST organizó un concurrido Town Hall durante la reunión; las diapositivas de las presentaciones realizadas por Beth Willman, Federica Bianco, y Adam Bolton en el evento están disponibles aquí here. LSST también tuvo un puesto de exhibición (foto aquí here) en el Pabellón NSF durante la reunión.

Para aliviar persistentes problemas de comunicaciones con la terminología LSST dejarán de utilizar los términos de Gestión de Datos "Nivel 1", "Nivel 2" y "Nivel 3" para la comunicación con la comunidad científica sobre los productos de datos de LSST. En su lugar, utilizaremos términos más claros como “Productos Inmediatos”, "Productos de Liberación de Datos" y " Productos Generado por el Usuario", respectivamente. Esta terminología es consistente con las descripciones de cada uno de los tres tipos de productos en los documentos del Proyecto. Una selección de documentos del Proyecto orientados hacia la comunidad y páginas web webpages están siendo actualizadas para reflejar el cambio. 

Una Prueba de aceptación Provisional de la instalación de lavado tendrá lugar este mes en las instalaciones de Von Ardenne en Dresden, Alemania. La revisión incluye la observación de la manguera de lavado, vista en este video this video proporcionados por el Ingeniero de la Cámara de Recubrimiento de LSST Tomislav Vicuña. Esta maquinaria especial retirara el revestimiento antiguo del espejo y lavara el espejo antes de moverlo dentro de la cámara de recubrimiento para el revestimiento. Más información sobre el proceso de lavado y revestimiento de espejos de LSST pueden encontrarse en esta reciente noticia news item

La Brida Trasera de la cámara de LSST fue recibida en El Laboratorio del Acelerador Nacional SLAC La semana pasada (haga clic aquí para ver una foto photo). Fabricada de una sola pieza de aluminio por el subcontratista Keller Technologies en Buffalo, NY, la Brida Trasera proporciona soporte estructural para el resto de la Cámara y es la interfaz mecánica entre la Cámara y el Telescopio. En SLAC, piezas de líneas de purga y tapas serán acopladas a la brida en los próximos meses. A continuación, se le enviará a IN2P3 en Francia, donde será integrado al carrusel de cambio del filtro y al cambiador automático.

El Base Facility de LSST en La Serena obtuvo una adición notable a fines de diciembre, cuando una grúa torre, necesaria para la renovación y construcción ongoing renovation and construction, se instaló en el AURA Recinto. La grúa, de 29 metros de altura, es ahora el  punto más alto de referencia del Recinto. La base de la grúa puede ser visto en la webcam del LSST Base Facility, y una foto completa está disponible en la LSST Gallery

Noticias de Personal

Bo Xin ha sido promovido al cargo de Científico de Sistemas Adjunto. Bo ayudará al Científico de Sistemas Chuck Claver en liderar el Equipo de Integración de Sistemas como parte del esfuerzo de Puesta en Marcha. Estamos encantados de que Bo haya asumido este papel; por favor, únase a nosotros para felicitarle. 

Julio Álvarez se unió al subsistema de Telescopio & Sitio el 17 de enero como pasante de Ingeniería Civil. Julio es un estudiante en su sexto año de estudio de Ingeniería Civil en la Universidad de La Serena. Él trabajará con Enrique Figueroa y Oscar Nuñez en la construcción del Base Facility y en el proyecto de adición del Pachón Hotel. Sus principales funciones serán asistir en la inspección de trabajo, así como en revisiones y respuestas a consultas del contratista, órdenes de cambio y otros trabajos determinados recibidos. Él se basará fundamentalmente en La Serena pero también viajará a Pachón para ayudar con el proyecto del hotel y además para visitar la Instalación en la Cumbre.

Próximas reuniones con participación de LSST 

(aquellos con un asterisco* son financiados por LSSTC):

2018

 

 Febrero 5

2018 DESC Meeting/Dark Energy School, SLAC, CA* 

Febrero 5-9

LSST-DESC Reunión de colaboración, SLAC, Menlo Park, CA*

Febrero 12

Reunión de la Oficina de Proyectos, Tucson, AZ

Febrero 28-Marzo 2

Reunión del Subsistema de LSST Telescopio & Sitio, Tucson, AZ

Marzo 5-9

Reunión de Subsistema en Conjunto de LSST Ingeniería de Sistemas/Gestión de Datos, Pasadena, CA

Abril 11-13  

Reunión del Subsistema de LSST de Educación y Difusión Pública, Tucson, AZ

Abril 16-18

Visitas del Congreso de LSSTC, Washington, D.C.

Abril 18-20

Desafíos Estadísticos de la Estructura a Gran Escala en la Era de LSST, Oxford, UK*

Abril 19-20

Reunión AMCL, Washington, D.C.

Junio 10-15

SPIE Reunión de Telescopios e Instrumentación Astronómica, Austin, TX

Junio 11-15

LSST@Europe3, Lyon, Francia*

Junio 19-21

Visualización de Datos y Exploración en la Época de LSST, Universidad de IL/NCSA, Champaign, IL*

Agosto 13-17

Taller del Proyecto y Comunitario LSST 2018, Tucson, AZ

 

Monday, January 22, 2018

January 22, 2018 - To ensure optimal performance of the LSST telescope, a regular cleaning schedule of its mirrors will be implemented during operations. Weekly, the Primary/Tertiary Mirror (M1M3) and Secondary Mirror (M2) surfaces will be cleaned by spraying the surfaces with a carbon dioxide (CO2) “snow” which removes dust particles and other contaminants. Approximately every six months, M1M3 will be cleaned with neutral soap and water using very soft chamois mops, followed by de-ionized water rinsing and drying using small air knives around the mirror cell. Both of these cleaning procedures take place without removing the mirrors from the telescope, and are completed within one summit working day. Neither the CO2 nor wet contact wash will impact the nightly observing schedule.

In addition to these preventative maintenance activities, the mirrors will be stripped of their reflective coatings, washed, and recoated every few years. We anticipate the M1M3 (coated with aluminium) will be cleaned and recoated every 2 years, and the M2 (coated with protective silver) every 5 years. Reflectance monitoring will allow us to predict when this more time-intensive work is necessary, and it will likely be coordinated with other scheduled downtime.

The washing station, which provides for pristine optical surfaces before coatings are deposited, is a deliverable part of the coating plant contract. A Provisional Acceptance Test of the washing chamber will take place later this month at the Von Ardenne facilities in Dresden, Germany. The review includes observation of the washing boom, seen in this 30-second video provided by LSST Coating Chamber Engineer Tomislav Vicuna. This special machinery will remove the old mirror coating and wash the mirror prior to moving it into the coating chamber for recoating.

A related story about the LSST coating chamber, from March, 2017, can be found here.

 

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Video offers peek at ultra-wide Large Synoptic Survey Telescope - Tuesday, January 16, 2018, Engadget
https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/16/video-offers-peek-at-ultra-wide-large-synopt...


The biggest digital camera on Earth takes shape - Wednesday, January 17, 2018, The Daily Mail.com
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5280507/Ultra-wide-telescope-Chil...


Giant telescope comes up in Chile with 3.2-gigapixel camera - Thursday, January 18, 2018, International Business Times
http://www.ibtimes.sg/giant-telescope-comes-chile-3-2-gigapixel-camera-1500-hd-s...


The World’s Biggest Telescope In The Chilean Desert Is Almost Complete - Friday, January 19, 2018, Wonderful Engineering
http://wonderfulengineering.com/the-worlds-biggest-telescope-is-almost-complete-...

Thursday, January 18, 2018

PROJECT & SCIENCE NEWS - Noticias del Proyecto

Happy New Year, and welcome back! We hope you all had a relaxing holiday break and are ready for the exciting year ahead.

LSST Assembly Integration Verification (AIV) Manager Jacques Sebag submitted this spectacular drone footage of the LSST facility, taken on December 28. The video was taken after the LSST team collaborated  with subcontractor Besalco to move the facility mobile roof to the flat area located on the north side of the lower enclosure. Congratulations to all for this achievement at the end of 2017!

The LSST Network Engineering Team (NET) is pleased to announce the first successful transfer of digital data over LSST/AURA fiber optic networks from the Summit Site on Cerro Pachon, Chile to the Base Site in La Serena, Chile and on to the Archive Site at NCSA in Champaign. The test transmissions started on December 18 and continued through December 22. Congratulations to the LSST NET First Fiber Optic Light Test Team for this milestone achievement.

The minutes for the December 8 LSST Science Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting are now available at this link. The meeting focused on the LSST Project Office’s plans for soliciting white papers from the community about LSST cadence, especially in the context of the Deep Drilling Fields. The call for these white papers is planned for June 2018.

PERSONNEL NEWS

Matthew Long joined the Data Management subsystem as a computer systems engineer on December 18, working at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). He will assist with administering LSST Data Facility computing resources housed at NCSA.

John Maloney joined the Data Management subsystem as a storage engineer on December 29, working at NCSA. He will work with the hardware, software, monitoring, and incident response environments for the LSST project. He will manage the General Parallel File System (GPFS) infrastructure at NCSA and begin building a reporting infrastructure system based on the monitoring data that has been stored for trend analysis of application and machine subsystem needs.

UPCOMING MEETINGS with LSST INVOLVEMENT

(those with asterisk* are LSSTC funded):

2018

 

January 29-30

AMCL Meeting, Tucson, AZ

February 5

2018 DESC Meeting/Dark Energy School, SLAC, CA*

February 5-9

LSST-DESC Collaboration Meeting, SLAC, Menlo Park, CA*

February 12

Project Office Meeting, Tucson, AZ

February 26-March 2

LSST Telescope & Site Subsystem Meeting, Tucson, AZ

March 5-9

LSST Systems Engineering/Data Management Joint Subsystem Meeting, Pasadena, CA

April 11-13

LSST Education & Public Outreach Subsystem Meeting, Tucson, AZ

April 16-18

LSSTC Congressional visits, DC.

April 18-20

Statistical Challenges for Large-scale Structure in the Era of LSST, Oxford, UK*

June 10-15

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Meeting, Austin, TX

June 11-15

LSST@Europe3, Lyon, France*

August 13-17

LSST Project and Community Workshop 2018, Tucson, AZ


NOTICIAS DEL PROYECTO Y CIENTIFICAS

¡Feliz Año Nuevo, y bienvenidos de nuevo! Esperamos que todos hayan tenido unas vacaciones relajantes y estén listos para el año emocionante que se avecina.

El Manager del Assembly Integration Verification (AIV) de LSST Jacques Sebag envió esta espectacular grabación de un dron de la construcción de LSST, tomada el 28 de Diciembre. El video fue tomado luego de que el equipo de LSST colaborara con el subcontratista  Besalco para trasladar el techo móvil al área plana ubicada en el lado norte del recinto del lower enclosure. ¡Felicidades a todos por este logro a finales del 2017!

El Equipo de Ingeniería de Red de LSST (NET) se complace en anunciar la primera transferencia exitosa de datos digitales a través de las redes de fibra óptica LSST/AURA desde el Cerro Pachon, Chile hasta el Recinto en La Serena, Chile y en el Recinto de Archivo en NCSA en Champaign. Las transmisiones de prueba comenzaron el 18 de Diciembre y continuaron hasta el 22 de Diciembre. Felicidades al Primer Equipo de Pruebas de Luz de Fibra Óptica de LSST NET por este logro tan importante.

El acta de la reunión del Comité de Asesoramiento Científico (SAC) de LSST del 8 de Diciembre ya está disponible en este enlace. La reunión se centró en los planes de la Oficina de Proyectos de LSST para solicitar los documentos de la comunidad sobre la cadencia de LSST, especialmente en el contexto de los Campos de Perforación Profunda. La convocatoria de estos documentos está prevista para junio del 2018.

NOTICIAS DEL PERSONAL

Matthew Long se unió al subsistema de Administración de Datos como Ingeniero de Sistemas Informáticos el 18 de Diciembre, trabajando en el Centro Nacional de Aplicaciones de Supercomputación (NCSA). Él ayudará con la administración de los recursos informáticos de LSST Data Facility guardados en NCSA.

John Maloney se unió al subsistema de Administración de Datos como Ingeniero de Almacenamiento el 29 de Diciembre, trabajando en NCSA. El trabajará con los hardware, software, monitoreo y respuesta a incidentes para el proyecto de LSST. Gestionará la infraestructura del Sistema de Archivos Paralelos Generales (GPFS) en NCSA y comenzará a construir un sistema de infraestructura de informes basado en los datos de monitoreo que se han almacenado para el análisis de tendencias y necesidades del subsistema.

PROXIMAS REUNIONES con PARTICIPACION DE LSST

(aquellos con asterisco* son financiados por LSSTC):

2018

 

Enero 29-30

Reunion AMCL, Tucson, AZ

Febrero 5

2018 DESC Meeting/Dark Energy School, SLAC, CA*

Febrero 5-9

LSST-DESC Reunión de Colaboración, SLAC, Menlo Park, CA*

Febrero 12

Project Office Meeting, Tucson, AZ

Febrero 26-Marzo 2

Reunión del Telescopio LSST & Subsistema de Sitio, Tucson, AZ

Marzo 5-9

Reunión del Subsistema en conjunto de Gestión de Datos/Ingeniería de Sistemas de LSST, Pasadena, CA.

Abril 11-13

Reunión del Subsistema de Educación y Difusión Pública del LSST, Tucson, AZ

Abril 16-18

LSSTC Visitas al Congreso, DC.

Abril 18-20

Desafíos Estadísticos de la Estructura a Gran Escala en la Era de LSST, Oxford, UK*

Junio 10-15

SPIE Reunión de Telescopios e Instrumentación Astronómica, Austin, TX

Junio 11-15

LSST@Europe3, Lyon, France*

Agosto 13-17

Taller de Proyecto y Comunitario LSST 2018, Tucson, AZ.

 

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

LSST Assembly/Integration/Verification (AIV) Manager Jacques Sebag submitted this spectacular drone footage of the LSST facility, taken on December 28. The video was taken after the LSST team collaborated with subcontractor Besalco to move the facility mobile roof to the flat area located on the north side of the lower enclosure. Congratulations to all for this achievement at the end of 2017!

See the full video or download

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Pages

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 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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