Subject: DIS out of service 2/26-3/10 (probably...we hope!)

From: elt@astro.Princeton.EDU

Submitted: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 17:36:50 -0500 (EST)

Message number: 549 (previous: 548, next: 550 up: Index)

Great progress has been achieved in the DIS detector upgrade project, and
it now appears likely that the new detectors, dewars, electronics etc and
key personnel will be at APO and ready to go within 10 to 12 days.

If all goes as planned DIS will be taken out of service beginning the night
of Feb 26 and ready for on-sky testing by the night of March 11.  It would
then be available on a "shared risk" basis for the scheduled DIS runs of
March 12-14 or so.

As mentioned in the preliminary 1Q2002 schedule and announced in apo35-general
message #540, some scheduled DIS programs will not be executable due to the
unavailability of the instrument during the upgrade.  These include NM02,
UW01, UW05 and UW09.  Others (UW01, UW10, NM03 and NM04) scheduled immediately
after the installation period might lose some of their scheduled time.  PIs
of affected programs should make appropriate preparations.

Any changes from this plan will be announced as soon as they are known.

The excellent news is that lab data on the new detectors indicate that a
truly dramatic improvement in DIS performance can be expected.

Ed Turner

APO APO APO APO APO  Apache Point Observatory 3.5m  APO APO APO
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