The vernal or spring equinox occurs today at 12:45HST. Today there will be little difference between the length of the night when counted against the number of daylight hours. This is the first day of spring as marked by many cultures in the northern hemisphere.
As the new year is well underway I find myself in the midst of my major project for this year. For the next few months I will be replacing the control system for the Keck 2 dome. The project is well underway, but the real work remains ahead of me.
The Allen-Bradley PLC/2 that controls the Keck 2 dome and shuttersIt is a project that is long overdue. The current controller for the dome and shutters is an Allen Bradley PLC/2, a thirty year old piece of equipment that is sadly obsolete. Yes, a PLC, programmable logic controller, one of those machines I thought were a completely horrible way to do anything. I was appalled when I first encountered this technology, now I have to master it.
Parts for the PLC/2 are still available, but the programming software is a real issue. The software runs on a DOS (as in pre-windows) operating system, and does not run under the emulation modes of later Microsoft systems. You need a real DOS computer, something that is a bit rare these days. If the controller running the Keck 2 dome were to fail, I am not certain we could repair it.
I have the computer that is used to do the programming in my office, an ancient Compaq Portable III. Portable is an odd word to use with this computer, it weighs over 20lbs and is huge by modern laptop standards. This museum piece still works! Last month I booted it up and wandered through the file system. At power up I was greeted by a monochrome amber screen and a DOS prompt. I still remember a few basic DOS commands, enough to check things out. It appears that all of the software and files are still present on the hard drive. Sometime I need to see if I can indeed program the old PLC/2. If something goes wrong in the update I need to be able to revert to the original control system.
A reminder that the Keck public lecture is tomorrow night…
Astronomy Talk: America’s Space Program – NASA’s Roadmap to Tomorrow’s Missions
This portrait looking down on Saturn and its rings was created from images obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on Oct. 10, 2013. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. UgarkovicNASA Administrator Charles Bolden will discuss America’s space program and the challenges the agency faces for the missions of tomorrow. Using a stepping stone approach that builds on the capabilities of our unique orbiting laboratory – the International Space Station – the growing abilities of commercial providers to reach space, and a new rocket and crew vehicle to travel to deep space, NASA is extending human reach into the solar system even as its amazing science missions are rewriting textbooks about our universe and inspiring the next generation of explorers.
The agency currently has spacecraft speeding toward Jupiter and Pluto and roving on Mars, and is searching for planets that could potentially harbor life beyond our solar system. An unprecedented mission to capture and redirect an asteroid to an orbit near to Earth is in the planning stages, and the Space Launch System and Orion Crew vehicle are reaching new milestones in development to take astronauts to an asteroid and on to Mars.
NASA has been a 1/6 partner in the W. M. Keck Observatory since 1996 and it is an honor to offer this program to the community.
The storm appears to be waning now, the satellite shows that much of it has passed the island. Not long ago the snowplow crews let it be known that they would not reach the summit today, try again tomorrow as the storm abates.
I did a bit of a photo survey of the summit using MastCam to check on the summit conditions. Poliʻahu rules Mauna Kea!
Looking at the summit ridge from the Keck after the storm
The IRTF coated with heavy ice
Looking at the summit ridge from the Keck after the storm
A ladder platform of the Keck 2 dome with a heavy coating of ice
Looking at the summit ridge from the Keck after the storm
UH88 under a heavy coating of ice after the storm
UKIRT under a heavy coating of ice after the storm
Keck 2 dome with a heavy coating of ice
A MastCam image of the snowdrifts covering the road between Keck and IRTF
The storm continues unabated atop Mauna Kea. Word from the snowplow crews is bad, deep drifts cover the road above the switchbacks. They are stating that it is unlikely our summit crew will be able to access the telescopes today. That will make the second day in a row with no access.
MastCam is still functioning, only half the dome is covered with ice. I have turned the heater on in an attempt to clear what I can. The view it reveals is deeper snow and a lot more ice. The railings on the dome ladders have coatings many inches thick.
The blizzard continues atop Mauna Kea March 12, 2015
Another experiment in growing tropical fruit… Deb had sprouted a pineapple using the top to one she had bought at the farmers market. With roots showing she asked me to set up a more appropriate home for the plant. That came in the form of a large pot on our front lanai. I was surprised when the pineapple not only survived but thrived. the plant is an attractive pot plant just outside our front door. I have shared some photos of the geckos and anoles that call the plant home.
Then the first signs of blooming appeared… In place of a new leaf a little spiky ball appeared at the center of the plant. This has developed into a very nice looking fruit, a recognizable pineapple covered with little purple blossoms. It is another tropical fruit I never imagined myself growing, one of the interesting things about living in Hawaii.
Folks sometimes get a little perturbed when MKSS closes the Mauna Kea summit road. Everyone wants to go up and see the snow. Yes, the road is closed right now, for good reason, there really is no accessible road on the summit at the moment. Not taking my word for it? See for yourself…
A MastCam image of the snowdrifts covering the road between Keck and IRTF
It has been raining all day in Waikoloa, a few tenths in the rain gauge as I left the house for work. In Waimea it is even worse, cool and damp, enough so that everyone is complaining about the cold. But then, island folks complain about anything under 80°.
Raindrops cover the leaves of the money treeThe weather was great for my mother’s visit two weeks ago. She was able to get some sun and beach before returning to the Northwest. Good thing she did not come this last week, nothing but grey skies and rain for the island. The storm is expected to last a few more days.
No progress on the lanai project this weekend, far too wet to paint. The trees in our landscape will like this rain, a steady soaking rain. Likewise the weeds will probably be doing all too well. I can turn off the watering system for a while. This morning’s shower was a tad cooler than I like, need to remember to turn on the electric backup in the solar hot water heater this evening.
The storm is raging at the summit. The wind is howling and freezing fog is coating everything with ice. The webcam images are mostly blocked as ice covers the camera windows, but I can still see out of one side of MastCam towards the Keck 2 dome.
Just received word that our day crew will not attempt the summit, they are leaving HP and headed home. The rangers report snow drifts on the road at fairly low elevations and the snow plow crews will not attempt to clear the roads until the storm abates. Looks like we will lose cooling on some of the instruments as the liquid nitrogen runs out.
Freezing fog forms ice on the weather mast on March 9th, 2015
