The MGO SGSLR dome installation occurred January 22nd through the 25th with the Site Acceptance Testing successfully completed on the 25th. Participating in the installation was a four-person team from the manufacturer, Baader Planetarium, as well as Howard Donovan (KBR), Alice Nelson (KBR) and Jan McGarry (NASA/GSFC). Also there for this installation was Ole Klingan from the Norwegian Mapping Authority (Kartverket). Ole was on the trip to prepare for the September installation of the same type of dome at the SGSLR facility at Ny-Ålesund. Not on the trip, but critical to the planning and execution of the installation, was the KBR SGSLR manager, Scott Wetzel (KBR). The SGSLR team would like to thank the University of Texas at Austin for their continued support of the SGSLR work.

The MGO SGSLR shelter is built and getting ready to accept the dome. This picture shows the temporary roof covering the dome ring wall and protecting that part of the roof where the hole for the gimbal is located. Dome installation is expected at the end of January 2020.

 

The MGO SGSLR shelter walls were installed on the SGSLR pad on October 15th. This picture shows the first wall panel going into place.

The dome ring wall was added after the building walls and roof were in place.

Work continues on the framing, electrical, ducting and other parts of the interior.

The MGO dome successfully passed the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) at Baader Planetarium in Mammendorf Germany on September 19, 2019. Scott Wetzel (KBR) and Julie Horvath (KBR) were in attendance. They approved the FAT and accepted the dome. Installation of the dome at MGO is expected to occur in January 2020.

 

Lightning struck the McDonald Laser Ranging Station (MLRS) in Texas on September 12, 2019 rendering it inoperable. The SGP is currently building a next generation SGSLR station next to the MLRS, and has decided to not repair the 37-year-old MLRS. The MLRS first started operating in 1982 and quickly became a premiere satellite and lunar laser ranging station. Data from this station was used for the most stringent tests of General Relativity, studies of the interior structure of the moon, and countless other geodetic and spacecraft tracking applications. The SGP looks forward to continuing the legacy of laser ranging from the McDonald Observatory and entering a new chapter with the recently completed VGOS station located just down the hill from the MLRS.

Intertronic Solutions Inc. completed the installation of the Space Geodesy Project’s new 12-meter VLBI antenna at the McDonald Observatory in Texas. An engineering room-temperature feed, developed and installed by MIT Haystack, was used to support the pointing tests. On February 15, 2019 several extragalactic sources were observed and the antenna successfully passed the Site Acceptance Test (SAT) on February 20, 2019. The MIT Haystack-developed cryogenic broadband signal chain will be installed in April after which the station will be ready to begin commissioning and participating in VGOS test sessions.

The SGSLR pad and pier at MGO were completed in January 2019. The electrical panels were temporarily placed on one side of the pad until the shelter could be installed.

The SGSLR pad and pier