Contributions by Gemini staff
News for Users
Many significant events impacting users are reported here, including
a major planned shutdown at Gemini South (a shutdown at Gemini
North in September will be reported in the next issue). Multiple new
instrumentation milestones are also summarized, including new
detectors for GMOS-South, GPI, GeMS, and FLAMINGOS-2.
Gemini South Operations Shutdown
The annual telescope shutdown at Gemini South was completed in the first half of August
2014. Work focused on three main activities: validating a set of spare electronics boards for
the secondary mirror, replacing the helium supply lines in the Cassegrain cable wrap systems, and performing preventative
maintenance on the Acquisition
and Guidance (A&G) unit, which
is within the instrument support
structure.
Figure 1.
Optical Technician
Claudio Araya works
on maintenance tasks
inside the Gemini
Facility Calibration
Unit (GCAL), during the
operations shutdown
of Gemini South.
After two days of testing, the electronics boards were validated on
the telescope, and the secondary mirror worked as required. A
complete set of spare electronics
boards now exist for both Gemini
secondary mirrors.
Routine inspections of the helium
supply lines of the Cassegrain
cable wrap revealed some wear
and bending, requiring all to be
October 2014
GeminiFocus 11