Drilling... drilling... drilling...
Jul. 30th, 2008 08:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
compilerbitchI've not updated for a little while, mostly because nothing much has happened other than drilling. Lots of drilling. There were some software problems initially that have now been mostly resolved, in part thanks to probably the weirdest telecon ever yesterday, which I held from the drill site in the crater via an IP phone, two microwave repeaters, a satellite uplink and teh internetz.
Just a day and a half of drilling left now. Today and half of tomorrow, followed by packing up the drill and other equipment, taking down the huge orange dome tent that's been our home away from home away from home for the last few days, and waiting for the Humvee to come and pick us up.
I'm getting pretty used to ATVs being daily routine transport now. It takes about 20 minutes in each direction to the drill site, 40 minutes if we have to go via the repeater sites. They are amazing little vehicles -- it's hard to imagine anything else being able to get over some of the more extreme terrain. Part of learning to ride them is just basically getting the idea that, yes, they *will* go over that huge scary-looking pile of rocks, and then just getting on with it.
Then, it's the eclipse. Latest weather forecasts give us a roughly 50:50 chance of seeing it, so I'm crossing everything. Then, two weeks of entirely other stuff starts. Pretty much everyone here will be switching over to a big experiment involving simulating a lunar exploration mission with two rovers. My 'thing' will be following one of the two rovers on an ATV, shooting photos and video, and probably doing a few other mission support tasks as becomes necessary. This is going to be pretty cool, I think, because it'll involve going on very long traverses right across the crater, so I have to admit that I'm looking forward to the opportunities for photography that will inevitably come up. And there will be people in space suits. Did I mention the space suits?
Just a day and a half of drilling left now. Today and half of tomorrow, followed by packing up the drill and other equipment, taking down the huge orange dome tent that's been our home away from home away from home for the last few days, and waiting for the Humvee to come and pick us up.
I'm getting pretty used to ATVs being daily routine transport now. It takes about 20 minutes in each direction to the drill site, 40 minutes if we have to go via the repeater sites. They are amazing little vehicles -- it's hard to imagine anything else being able to get over some of the more extreme terrain. Part of learning to ride them is just basically getting the idea that, yes, they *will* go over that huge scary-looking pile of rocks, and then just getting on with it.
Then, it's the eclipse. Latest weather forecasts give us a roughly 50:50 chance of seeing it, so I'm crossing everything. Then, two weeks of entirely other stuff starts. Pretty much everyone here will be switching over to a big experiment involving simulating a lunar exploration mission with two rovers. My 'thing' will be following one of the two rovers on an ATV, shooting photos and video, and probably doing a few other mission support tasks as becomes necessary. This is going to be pretty cool, I think, because it'll involve going on very long traverses right across the crater, so I have to admit that I'm looking forward to the opportunities for photography that will inevitably come up. And there will be people in space suits. Did I mention the space suits?