First 4MOST subsystem installed on VISTA

by Joar Brynnel on 2024-06-12

On Sunday, June 9, the first 4MOST subsystem was installed on the VISTA telescope on Paranal. This was the 4MOST Cassegrain Cable Wrap, aka CaCW, which is a deliverable from AIP with contributions from MPIA. As this subsystem is quite large and heavy, and therefore must be shipped by sea containers, ESO agreed to ship it in advance of the PAE-1. The two sea containers arrived safely at Paranal on April 19.

On June 3, a team from AIP Potsdam and ESO Garching arrived on Paranal for the unpacking, inspection, re-integration and finally installation of the CaCW on the telescope. The work on site went quite well, and we were able to install the CaCW on the telescope on June 9, slightly ahead of schedule. With the very efficient and competent support from ESO, the work went quite well without any major issues.

We were able to gain quite a lot of experience from this mission in terms of shipping, logistics, planning, and collaboration with ESO on site. It gives us great confidence for the upcoming shipments and installation activities. Many individuals have contributed to making this happen, and it is a very important milestone for the project.

The 4MOST PI Roelof de Jong said: ''I am very happy to see the first 4MOST subsystem installed on the VISTA telescope. That everything went so smoothly gives great credit to the entire team that developed the subsystem and planned its shipment and installation. It also bodes well for future deliveries, where I look forward to further shipments later this year.''