Week 7: Soldering On

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Sunday, July 13, 2014

By:

Kirsten Randle

After an epic 4th of July, my weekend was very laid back. Saturday, I caught up on laundry and Star Trek (TNG) episodes. Sunday, Ashley and I headed to the Pentagon City Mall for a day of shopping.

This week, I continued working on soldering some detailed wiring for the new cryostat (with several failed attempts). I have used my code to evaluate the bandwidth for the 150 GHz and 220 GHz observing windows and calculated the energy. Nick and I are working on planning a tour of NASA for the other SPS interns next week, and we met with Kendra on Wednesday to go over some itineraries that we're developing.

Friday, most of us went to NIST for the tour Kelby and Ben prepared for the group. The equipment we saw was really cool, including a neutron beam facility, scanning electron and helium ion microscopes, a bunch of advanced cleanrooms with a bunch of electronics and materials testing equipment inside. After a brief look in the biomolecule sensing lab she and Ben are working in, we headed over to an excellent lunch at the Dogfish Head Alehouse. I had a massive burger (with onion rings on top) and fries that kept me completely full for the rest of the day. After heading home to pack up a small bag, I got on a bus in Chinatown to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Philadelphia.

Kirsten Randle