MOONS has just taken delivery of by far and away the largest component we have received so far: the radiation shield. This colossal* structure will line the inside of the instrument's cryostat, forming the final barrier between the warm outside world and the chilled world inside MOONS, which will operate at around 130 K. The radiation … Continue reading Radiation shield fills the lab
News
Testing the electronics
We have received (and tested) the first batch of circuit boards for the FPUs. Each FPU requires two circuit boards; the main drive electronics that attach to the base of the FPU and a smaller board that is mounted on the alpha stage of the FPU and relays signals from the motor and switches on … Continue reading Testing the electronics
FPM baseplate delivered
The FPU baseplate was delivered today from Alimex, looking big and shiny and giving a worrying sense of scale for what is to come... The inspection report shows that the part meets the 10 micron profile tolerances on the FPU facets, which is extremely impressive considering the size and amount of material removal required. It … Continue reading FPM baseplate delivered
Collimator mirror structure
Some of largest parts of MOONS so far have just arrived in Edinburgh from Italy! Thanks Arcetri! In the box lie the support structures for the collimator mirrors, one for each of the spectrographs. Each support structure alone weighs 70kg, and another 70kg for the mirrors themselves. We don't yet have the mirrors, although one … Continue reading Collimator mirror structure
FPM baseplate in manufacture
Pictures from a visit to see the Fibre Positioning Module baseplate being manufactured at Alimex GmbH in Willich, nr Dusseldorf. The plate is being machined on a massive DMU 270P 5-axis mill. The monolothic baseplate is made from ultra-stable 5080 ACP aluminium alloy. It has 1069 'facets' onto which the FPUs, acquisition cameras and fiducials … Continue reading FPM baseplate in manufacture
