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1. Stephen Sekula (steve@chirp.cooleysekula.net)'s status on Thursday, 02-Feb-2023 13:01:46 UTC Stephen Sekula
   Had an awesome day in the underground lab yesterday working with PICO colleagues on one of the experiment's chiller systems. It has been almost 2 months since I went underground due to surface demands, so it took some re-acclimation. But as always, it was AMAZING. Working on a dark matter experiment 6800ft under the earth is quite an experience. For most people at SNOLAB, it's every day of their regular job. For the miners in the active mine around us, it's even more incredible.
   • ghostdancer likes this.
   • ghostdancer (ghostdancer@mastodon.sdf.org)'s status on Thursday, 02-Feb-2023 13:28:00 UTC ghostdancer

     in reply to

     @steve Wow! Do you need some equipment? Or it's just time to get used to it? What's the temperature down there?

   • Stephen Sekula (steve@chirp.cooleysekula.net)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 00:45:30 UTC Stephen Sekula

     in reply to

     • ghostdancer
     Getting to SNOLAB has two steps. The first is a "cage ride" from surface to the 6800ft level. For that, and the 1.4km walk from the cage station to the lab, we are required to wear standard mine personal protective equipment: high-reflectivity coveralls (bright orange), boots with toe crush protection, gloves, eye protection, hard hat, ear protection, and a cap lamp. The mine is about 27C (80F).
     
     At the lab, we remove all mine clothing, shower, and change into cleanroom suits, hairnets. A chiller maintains the lab at 20C (68F). The lab is a class 1000 cleanroom.
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   • Stephen Sekula (steve@chirp.cooleysekula.net)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 00:57:21 UTC Stephen Sekula

     in reply to

     • ghostdancer
     Here is "A Day at SNOLAB" showing what it's like to travel into, and work in, the laboratory: https://youtu.be/sZPLcv-ASwc
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   • ghostdancer (ghostdancer@mastodon.sdf.org)'s status on Friday, 03-Feb-2023 09:02:13 UTC ghostdancer

     in reply to

     @steve If it weren't cool and interesting enough science this is even incredible. Thanks for the link to the video. I guess you can become used to it but from outside is wow!, for the lack of a better expression in my vocabulary.