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Report of Logistics Session

Session Leader: David Fischer

ABSTRACT

Aside from the difficulties which would normally be associated with constructing a 10-meter telescope, the Working Group considered the unique restrictions of building a 10-meter telescope at the South Pole. Chief among these restrictions are moving cargo, and constructing the telescope in the South Pole's environmental extremes. Moreover, the 10-meter telescope construction is proposed during the same timeframe that an intense construction effort can be expected on the South Pole Station Modernization (SPSM) project. The Working Group thus decided that its goal was to identify the challenges for the construction of this telescope, in hopes of laying the groundwork for successfully integrating the telescope construction within the context of the SPSM project.

SCHEDULE

The Working Group developed the following "best-case" schedule for construction of the 10-meter telescope at South Pole. Shown alongside this schedule is the expected construction effort for the SPSM project. The schedule also shows projected resources for each project (labor and cargo movement); these are limited resources for which both projects would compete. The only goal of this schedule is to lay out the a realistic look at the challenges for completing both the 10-meter and the SPSM project in parallel. The Working Group did not reach any conclusions for easing these difficulties.
Austral 
Summer 
Season    FY   10-m Milestones             SPSM Milestones
======    ==   ==============              ===============
2001-2    2    1. Tower via vessel         80-100 construction personnel
               to McMurdo                  100-200 flights

2002-3    3    1. Telescope via vessel     80-100 construction personnel
               to McMurdo                  100-200 flights
               2. Tower to Pole
               (order of 10 flights)

2003-4    4    1. Tower Construction at Pole   80-100 const. personnel
               (10-20 construction personnel)  100-200 flights
               2. Telescope to Pole           
               (order of 10 flights)         
           
2004-5    5    Telescope construction at Pole  80-100 const. personnel
               (10-20 constructin personnel)   100-200 flights

2005-6    6    Operation Begins                Operation Begins

LOGISTICS/CARGO MOVEMENT

Moving the telescope and tower to the South Pole involves a number of steps. After a test-erection of the system the telescope and tower would be broken down for shipment to Port Hueneme. Trucking restrictions would probably define the same size requirements as necessary for all further shipments. Further, the size of the largest dish element would probably be dictated by vibrations seen by the dish during transport. Once shipped via vessel to McMurdo, the next challenge is transporting the tower and telesope components to the South Pole. The group agreed that it was important to start planning early in the design for "clever" packing techniques so that the restriction on components would be weight rather than volume; that is, so that as much material as possible could be placed on each airframe available. Finally, the group agreed that while an Overland Traverse could be beneficial it is neither necessary for the telescope transportation (except for competition with other priorities for airframe availability), and that the telescope and tower would be designed from the outset for transport on LC-130s.

CONSTRUCTION

The group agreed that the telescope and tower be designed for efficient cold-weather construction. Especially, the following guidelines should be followed, drawing on lessons learned from other projects:
  1. The telescope and tower need to be test-erected in the US prior to transport to Pole.
  2. During test-erection, all joints should be color-coded to ease assembly in the field.
  3. The design should emphasize use of the smallest number of bolted connections, and should use as few as possible different bolt sizes and require as few as possible separate tools.
 

 

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Last modified: November 05, 1999