Now that federal construction on LSST has formally begun, the LSST Project has constituted a Science Advisory Committee (SAC). The committee’s job is to represent the wider scientific community (including the US astronomical community) and to advise LSST Project Director Steve Kahn as decisions are made throughout the LSST construction phase.

The LSST Hiring Campaign continues in full force as the project staffs up to meet the demands of the construction effort. Current positions, along with those filled and coming soon, are posted online at www.lsst.org/hiring. The five individuals below have joined the project recently as examples of Top Talent Working in a Team Environment that Inspires Excellence – welcome!

The LSST secondary mirror (M2) substrate has been safely relocated from Harvard University in Cambridge, MA to the Exelis facility in Rochester, NY. The mirror’s trek, which involved the use of a 50-ton internal bridge crane to load the mirror transport box onto a wide-load flatbed truck and a 70-ton external crane to offload it at destination, covered 604 miles in a little over a day. The truck and pilot vehicle departed Harvard at 1 pm on October 20 and arrived in Rochester at 3 pm on October 21. Subsequently, Exelis personnel have disassembled the transport box and thoroughly inspected the substrate.

With this issue of LSST E-News the LSST Project Office (LSSTPO) steps out as a true construction project, responsible for Building the Future: the LSST observing facility. In contrast, the LSST Corporation (LSSTC) will focus its efforts on Preparing for Science, fundraising, and defining partnerships and plans for Operations. This distinction will become more clear in the coming months with the transfer of the M1M3 mirror from LSSTC to LSSTPO and emerging support from LSSTC for the science collaborations. The LSST Project Office will remain focused on the construction of the LSST facility as detailed in the baseline plan presented to the NSF and DOE federal funding agencies. An exciting milestone was achieved as we go to press…

November 20, 2014 – The 72,620 pound M1M3 shipping container was successfully transported from CAID Industries in Tucson to the UofA Mirror Lab. The 30ft × 30ft oversize load departed at 4am, escorted by four Tucson police cars and two pilot vehicles. Offloading was completed by 5:30am. Once Final Acceptance Testing is completed, the M1M3 will be stored locally in Tucson for final integrated testing prior to shipment to the summit facility in Chile. Additional photos available here.

LSST Director Steve Kahn and Project Scientist Zeljko Ivezic made a tour of major astronomical institutions in Australia during the last week in October. This so-called LSST “Road Show” came at the request of the Australian astronomical community and allowed that community to interact directly with the LSST leadership in investigating possible Australian involvement in the operations phase of the program. The tour included day-long sessions at the Australian Astronomical Observatory headquarters in Sydney, at Mt. Stromlo Observatory of the Australian National University in Canberra, at Swinburne University in Melbourne, and at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research on the campus of the University of Western Australia in Perth.

Furman University junior Victoria Strait is a 2014 summer REU intern at UC Davis, working with Tony Tyson, Sam Schmidt, and James Jee. Victoria is applying her knowledge of astronomy and python programming to the problem of star-galaxy separation in very deep imaging surveys. The Deep Lens Survey is an LSST precursor survey. Using Deep Lens Survey data, plus recent infrared coverage of those same fields, Victoria is designing an optimal star-galaxy separation algorithm, which makes use of all the multicolor and morphology information.

Gretchen Stahlman, a doctoral student at the UA School of Information Resources & Library Sciences, is working with Suzanne Jacoby and the Communications Team to update LSST’s image use policy and communication processes as well as designing a web-based timeline and framework to digitally archive historical information about the development and construction of LSST, among other projects related to communication.

Zachary Reyna, an undergraduate engineering student from Iowa State University, is working with LSST Safety Officer Chuck Gessner to conduct a safety/human factors/ergonomic analysis of the dome and its subsystems. Welcome, Interns!

LSST is taking the show on the road with an energetic new hiring campaign aimed at attracting a diverse and talented team to lead the project into its official construction phase. Equipped with a newly-designed website and a proactive recruitment strategy, LSST team members recently attended the American Astronomical Society Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation conference in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, personally interacting with top scientists, engineers, educators and administrators in fields related to telescope construction and operation. Through active outreach efforts, word-of-mouth and a strong online presence, LSST is seeking highly-skilled individuals to join the project at this critical and exciting time in astronomical history.

The LSST Hiring Campaign website will be updated to show new positions as they become available. There are 12 open positions as we go to press with this issue of E-News.

Eduardo Serrano

The LSST Project welcomes Eduardo Serrano as the Site Manager for the Telescope and Site team in Chile. Eduardo joins the LSST team in La Serena, most recently working at the SOAR telescope as site manager since 1998. He will work closely with Jeff Barr, the Project Architect, to support the upcoming summit facility construction activities and operate as the overall onsite safety manager to ensure compliance to LSST safety policies. Eduardo has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of La Serena and previously worked at CTIO in support of telescope engineering activities.

Carol Chirino The LSST Project Office is pleased to welcome Administrative Assistant Carol Chirino to the LSST team. Carol will support daily operation of the LSST office in Chile, including providing support for local and visiting staff. She will coordinate LSST administration in Chile with the LSST Project Office in Tucson. Most recently a bi-lingual administrative specialist for Gemini South Operations Support, Carol has 12 years experience in demanding office environments. Before Gemini, she worked as an administrative assistant for the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmondton, Alberta, Canada.

Mario Juric Mario Juric, LSST’s Data Management Project Scientist, has accepted a new position at University of Washington, where he joins the Astronomy Department and the eScience Institute as a faculty member. Beginning in September, Mario will relocate to Seattle, while continuing his duties for LSST remotely and through monthly trips to Tucson. Despite spending less time in the LSST Project Office, Mario’s new post is mutually beneficial, offering fresh challenges in data science, as well as opportunities to connect with cutting-edge research and researchers, overall contributing positively to LSST. Congratulations, Mario!