Project Manager’s Corner

Don Sweeney, LSST Project Manager

The LSST 8.4-meter primary/tertiary mirror has emerged from the furnace at the University of Arizona. The Steward Observatory Mirror Lab (SOML) opened the oven on July 23 to reveal a beautifully cast M1M3 mirror. After the furnace was disassembled we all had a rare opportunity to walk around on the mirror surface — providing a number of great picture opportunities. In early September, SOML workers performed a test of the newly assembled lifting fixture and crane to ensure the 30 metric ton mirror and mirror mold can be safely lifted off of the furnace hearth. The lifting fixture utilizes 54 steel disks that are bonded to the front surface of the mirror with silicone adhesive. The mirror will be lifted from the hearth in the next few weeks and placed on its side to allow cleanout and processing of the backside of the mirror blank. These steps will be completed in spring 2009; next steps include backside finishing followed by polishing of the front surface. The completed mirror will be delivered in January 2012.

In September the LSST Corporation welcomed Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as the newest Institutional Member. Physicist Dr. Salman Habib will be the LANL Institutional Representative. LANL brings expertise in the areas of astrophysics, cosmology, large datasets and real-time data extraction and analysis, all of which have strong overlap with LSST science and engineering

In July, AURA, on behalf of LSST, filed the Environmental Impact Declaration with the Chilean national environmental commission (CONAMA.) Representatives of local government agencies that make up CONAMA’s assessment commission conducted a site visit in August and later in the month AURA presented the Declaration and environmental mitigation procedures to the regional environmental commission (COREMA.) AURA has received and answered the questions and comments that were formally submitted through the process and final review with approval is anticipated in late October.

LSST staff and collaborators are meeting the challenge of preparing for the Preliminary Design Review (PDR). The project team has scheduled five one or two-day technical reviews of sub-systems in preparation for the LSST PDR next spring. Reviews will focus on telescope and site, camera, data management, project management control system and system engineering and calibration. Our objective is identification of potential weaknesses in the LSST baseline plan. Each reviewer is uniquely qualified to give us an expert opinion.