Gemini North Dome Repairs
In late May, the discovery that the second
dome shutter drive unit had failed at Gemini
North prompted an unscheduled shutdown
in order to make necessary repairs (Figure
4). Because this is the second of these drive
units to fail at Gemini North, the repairs went
relatively quickly and downtime was kept
to a minimum (in the earlier instance the
weather was also an issue; see article in the
previous issue of GeminiFocus for details on
repairs to the identical unit on the opposite
side of the dome top shutter). Work is ongoing to better understand why these units
both failed at Gemini North and to minimize
the possibility that they will do so unexpectedly at Gemini South.
2014B – Emphasis on Large and
Long Programs
Principal Investigators for all approved semester 2014B Gemini proposals received
their email notifications on June 17th. Semester 2014B marks the first for Gemini Planet
Imager regular science operations, the initial
semester of Large and Long Programs, and
the first full semester with the new, W