Initial Site Development:TSU
supported the initial development of Fairborn Observatory's
site in Washington Camp, Arizona, to the extent necessary to put
the 2-m AST there. This development includes helping select the
actual location for the telescopes before Fairborn Observatory
relocated to WC, paying for a road up the hill to the telescopes,
paying for a fraction of the cost of the electrical connection,
and building a workshop building. The actual construction was
done by Sierrita Mining, a contractor experienced in construction
at remote sites.
- Lou Boyd and Greg Henry at the
chosen site, January, 1996.
- Panoramic view of the site,
looking southeast, January, 1996, and in
Sept., 1998.
- Driveway up to telescopes,
constructed in April, 1996, by Sierrita Mining.
- Fairborn-Observatory
enclosures for 12 smaller telescopes under construction, photographed
from site of 2-m in June, 1996 (not part of 2-m project).
- Finished house for four smaller
telescopes (not part of 2-m project).
- Site for 2-m telescope seen
acrocss rails for roofs of smaller enclosures, June, 1996.
Site Development for the 2-m AST:
The foundation for the 2-m telescope was contracted to Sierrita Mining
through Fairborn Observatory, with fabrication of the actual enclosure
also to Sierrita Mining. The following pictures show the foundation
work, during September-October, 1997, and the erection of the
main enclosure, during July-September, 1998.
- Cutaway drawing of the
telescope enclosure.
- Reinforcement of pier
for the 2-m telescope.
- Pouring concrete for
the pier.
- Reinforcements of pad
edges required for highest wind loads.
- Layout of pad
for telescope enclosure, September, 1997.
- General view
of telescope site from south, September, 1997.
- Finished pads
for spectrograph and telescope, November, 1997.
- Main pad for telescope
enclosure with auxiliary pad for oil pump to the east,
November, 1997.
- Pads for utilities shed
and rails for roof, November, 1997.
-
Framing for enclosure at Sierrita Mining, July, 1998.
- Erected framework
of telescope enclosure at Washington Camp, August, 1998,
with enclosures for spectrograph and maintenance room in foreground,
and finished view.
- Enclosure framing showing
top rolled back with utility shed below,
detail of pneumatically-activated, flop-down
front door, and details showing
track dollies and part of
building drive.
- Views in utility shed showing UPS
and air compressor, Feb. 2000.
- Finished enclosure in Feb. 2000;
another view from October, 1998.
Installation of the 2-m Telescope:
After satisfying the following shipping
criteria and wasting a month with a delay ordered by NASA Headquarters,
we installed the telescope on site in Washington Camp, Arizona, during
June, 2000. Plans for shipping the telescope included allocation of the pieces
to shipping crates and arrangements
with Sierrita Mining for helping erect the telescope.
- Pier painted and ready to receive
the telescope.
- Some of the shipping crates
for the telescope under the tarps and loaded for shipment:
base, fork,etc,
mirror and tube, and
various other parts.
- Loading the telescope onto the trucks,
and a view of one of the loaded trucks,
June 7, 2000.
- Telescope on trucks leaving for Arizona,
June 7, 2000.
- Some of the equipment to handle the telescope at Fairborn Observatory:
end loader with John Harris of
Sierrita Mining and its fork attachment.
- Arrival at Washington Camp,,
June 12, 2000, and moving parts up the hill.
- Assembling the base and fork (June 13):
Uncrating the base, lifting base
into the enclosure, base in place ready
for leveling, base ready for fork, and
fork in place.
- Adding tube and primary mirror (June 14):
Uncrating axial support levers to be added to the tube,
lifting tube into the enclosure,
positioning tube in fork,
tube in place on fork,
tilt drive sector added, and tube
ready to receive mirror.
- We added the mirror on June 14 and adjusted it on June 15, then added
the secondary support structure to give the essentially
assembled mount on June 16.
- Adding drives (June 16): Tilt drive
in place on fork, azimuth drive attachments
added to fork, control boxes on telescope, and
testing tilt drive with hand controller.
- Finishing drives: First azimuth drive
in place (June 17); adding GPS antenna
(June 19), and running tests under computer
control (June 19).
