Updates

In Other News…

There’s always a lot going on with LaserSETI. It’s easy to be super focused on the operations and observational data but, just like overall SETI 9-dimensional haystack, the LaserSETI project is similarly multifaceted, and we’re always trying to make progress on all its different dimensions.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case, closer to a thousand hours… of 3D printing time. Here’s the receiving bucket containing the parts for the new instruments, waiting to be cleaned and put to use:

Large bucket of LaserSETI parts, waiting to be cleaned and used

We’ve done so much printing, in fact, that it’s time to swap out the printing surface for a new one. It’s not hard to spot the difference, is it? And, with a shiny new surface, it’s a good time to print the parts that are a little more delicate in the first layers, like the sunshade that protects the cameras’ shutters from the beating sun.

3D printer build surface: used vs. new

On some of those other dimensions, here’s a few things happening right now:

  • Replacement of a misbehaving hard disk in our long-term storage array, and rebuilding the double redundancy of the 100TB volume
  • Copying a subset of the data to ship off to a budding student partnership to study the data
  • Estimates for LaserSETI’s usefulness at capturing Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays
    • Spoiler alert: not as good as we’d hoped, because the chances of seeing an event are proportional to how spread out your sensors are on the ground
  • Working with a mechanical engineer to iron out the kinks caused by heat transfer in the cutting process when fabricating our stainless steel enclosures

Almost there?

It’s the best night we’ve had at RFO in at least a month. Lots of stars, clear, not too much moisture, few to no clouds. 🔭 Hooray!

At IfA, however, the saga continues. Power had been “restored” via generator, then the main network cable was fixed… and re-fixed. Then we lost power from the generator, had to replace a major breaker after ordering a replacement from off the island, and now mains power and generator are both up.

200A Circuit breaker which needed replacing

As you might have concluded by now, there was a lot of damage to the equipment on the mountain from the storm in December. It’s not clear what was from direct storm damage, power fluctuations, or other secondary causes, but clearly there’s still more to repair because… we still haven’t been able to reach the instruments, despite general connectivity being restored for a third time this month.

My hope is and endeavor will be that this is the last post about what’s not working, and the next one has only good news. Next week? Fingers crossed. Stay tuned and thanks for thinking good thoughts for us!

I’m Seeing Stars!

And not the cartoon kind! 🐦💫 The Bay Area isn’t done with rain storms, and this definitely isn’t a great observing night by any standard, but it’s so nice to see stars again. It’s been weeks!

RFO1 Console screenshot showing stars and clouds

The news isn’t quite as good from Haleakala, unfortunately. Hawaiin Telecomm repaired the fiber, decided they needed to redo it, redid it, and yet we still haven’t made Contact with the instruments. Checking multiple times per day hasn’t seemed to help. Something about a “watched kettle never boils” I think?

Weather Nemesis

In the years that LaserSETI’s been operational across two sites, this is certainly the longest weather delay we’ve ever had simultaneously affecting both sites.

The good news is that Hawaiian Telecom made good progress repairing the fiber on the slopes of Haleakala today, and should get us back online by Friday at the latest–assuming they can secure a helicopter to assist. Apparently, helicopters don’t grow on trees, even in Hawaii.

The probably-not-good news is that, here in CA, the weather is still bad and who knows when it will clear up. Forecast says rain for another week, but maybe some of that could be during the day and the clouds could push out at night? 🙂

Current weather radar for Ferguson Observatory
(located within Sugarloaf Ridge State Park)

It’s a Good Time to Count Your Blessings

It’s still Dec 13st here on the West Coast, and we’re hoping the New Year brings better luck and better skies for LaserSETI and a wonderful 2023 for each and every one of you!

We’ve had a lot of rain in California recently. I can’t remember the last clear night we’ve had. I was excited because the astronomer’s forecast was (and still is) good for tonight, but there must be valley fog or something else low in the sky that it’s blind to. The only photons making it to the instruments tonight are from our Sun, bounced off our lovely but obscured Moon.

View from RFO2, with only the Moon bright enough to break through the moisture

And, you might’ve noticed, it’s been a long time since even the PiCams have updated from IFA on Haleakala in Maui. Almost two weeks ago now, there was a large ice storm which knocked out power. You can still see the frost on the instrument windows just before they went offline on the Status page. On Tuesday, we got power back, but only to find there was another internet cable cut somewhere halfway up the mountain, so we’re still without connectivity to the instruments.

It can be easy to get frustrated when things don’t go your way time after time, but I think that’s shows something special about the holiday season and New Years. Everyone wishes things were better, and that’s natural, that’s how we keep making progress. But we all have a million things to be grateful for, to appreciate how we got where we are and what or who is going to help us keep going tomorrow.

So let’s focus on what’s great in the world and in our lives, and leave some greatness to achieve in 2023!

It’s Cold Outside!

Just because you’re in Hawaii, doesn’t mean it’s warm! We got our first frost of the season, after being socked in and unable to observe last night.

Frost on the windows of IFA1

We can see effects of cooler temperatures in California, too. One of the camera’s in RFO2 is especially prone to being sticky when cold, but fortunately we now have software to handle it automatically.

Ideally, and with most of the other cameras, it takes only 3 attempts to open the shutter all the way 3 times in a row, but last night it took 9.

Challenge Match: Two Days Left

Yesterday, the SETI Institute hit its goal of raising $10,000 for our projects that search for life beyond Earth, succeeding on a challenge grant from long-time SETI Institute supporter Fritz Demopoulos. Now he has extended the September Challenge by $2,500!

The SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Array (ATA) in Hat Creek, CA

There are only two days left to unlock a $12,500 gift for LaserSETI and its siblings. If you donate before Oct 1, your gift will go twice as far. A gift of any size helps the search!

Hot hot hot!

LaserSETI would like the sympathize with all of the humans experiencing a heat wave today.

We spent a long time refining the thermal protection system for the instruments. Internal circulation, special heat-shedding paint, multiple exhaust fans, sunshades with embedded mirrors to reject even more heat. Days like today prove the value of that investment.

It’s 44 C (112 F) right now at Ferguson Observatory (RFO) and the cameras are the hottest I’ve ever seen them: 61 C (142 F)!

For comparison, the cameras on top of Haleakala, Maui (IFA) are a cool 16 C (61 F) right now.

The Passing of Frank Drake

My friend Laurance had some very touching and appropriate words on this sad day, and he agreed to let me share them here.

“I was very sorry to hear of Frank’s passing this morning. I could not help but think of the huge scientific legacy he has left.


His Drake Equation set the agenda for thousands of researchers to investigate all aspects of life in the universe. And he co-founded the SETI Institute which would become a world-class place to do this research. I spent my career researching up and down the Drake Equation, including 35 years at the SETI Institute (so far). When he retired from UC Santa Cruz, he asked me to teach his Life in the Universe class (which I did for seven years).


It would be difficult to overestimate his legacy in establishing the study of life in the universe and the search for it as a legitimate scientific field into which young scientists could do legitimate research.


It isn’t often that one gets to know someone who got there first – who was the first one to open up a wholly new field of science. But Frank certainly did that with quiet but definitive authority.


I’m sure that our own “L”, from the Drake Equation, was made longer by having had Frank grace our planet. Bending humankind’s thinking to consider our (and our planet’s) place in the universe is his legacy for the ages. It was a great honor to be around to see it all happen and to get to know Frank.”

Dr. Laurance R. Doyle 
Director, Quantum Astrophysics Group
Principal Investigator, Whale-SETI Project 
Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute 

On a personal note, I took that Life in the Universe class, and it definitely had an impact on me. It may be the class I remember best. It’s only today that I realize that it was his class, and the guest lecture he gave one day wasn’t a guest lecture. Now, if you do a search for it, the results are a long list of prestigious universities, teaching those who will listen to consider their place in the universe.

 

Ice Cream Social!

If you’re in the Bay Area and you like ice cream (and who doesn’t like ice cream??), then come by SETI HQ next weekend and see:

  • Our new building, with all sorts of cool new decorations, displays, memorabilia, etc.
  • Me, probably wearing my standard LaserSETI t-shirt
  • A real LaserSETI camera
  • Lots of awesome SETI Institute scientists and staff
  • And meet other awesome regular people who like science!

Click here to register and learn more: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2022-seti-institute-ice-cream-social-tickets-388906147757