As the first observation night rapidly approaches, it was time to truck MagAO-X up the hill to the observatory. But first, Joseph furiously tried to solve the software woes and the rest of the crew suited up to decable MagAO-X.
With an average of 5 people in the clean tent at a time, decabling went smoothly (no incident with any DM cables whatsoever). Maggie and I removed some old ALPAO cables from within the instrument, which were precariously routed through about 1000 other cables and in between optics. Eden, Logan, and Josh removed all cables from the electronics rack .
Prior to lunch, we got a great look at MagAO-X in its final form before wrapping it up for its journey. On their way to lunch, Eden and Logan got the first glimpse of a Gary on this run.
After lunch, all returned to seal up MagAO-X. As part of the newcomer ritual, I was hazed by being forced into cart construction duty. Luckily, plenty of experienced hands were available to help.
With our package prepared, the LCO crew arrived to ship it up the hill!
With MagAO-X resting in the observatory storage area till the next day, we had some time to enjoy the beautiful views and the exceptional sunset.
After dinner, Eden pulled out some games to confuse us. While convoluted, they certainly resulted in some great moments and memorable blunders.
The best 15 minutes of the day, or more like the most strange 15 minutes, was trying a cup of the notorious Boldo tea. As a wiseman described it, “it kind of tastes like a car.” While I am glad to have experienced it once, I will never do it again.
Song of the day:
As Maggie and I precariously removed unused cables in MagAO-X while hovering over OAPs, this is the song I had playing in my head. I think it also suits all those moments when MagAO-X was being pushed, lifted, and driven to its resting place for the night.
Mission Impossible Theme (Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr’s version performed in 1996)