Kevin Zagorski 🚀

space 🌌 and tacos 🌮
engineer
"il faut aller voir"

Public Key

npub1rv3jnkh4k02z4d7al68t3nwfv3p62ylfywc23q6xsfl3w3ucur4qjrrwdy

NIP-05 Address

kevzag_at_fediscience.org@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqspkgefmt6m84p2klwlar4cehykgsa9z05j8v9gsdrgylchg7vwp6spzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgjvz90f

Publishing to

relay.nostr.band

Author Public Key

npub1rv3jnkh4k02z4d7al68t3nwfv3p62ylfywc23q6xsfl3w3ucur4qjrrwdy

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Last Notes

2024-10-29 02:12:28

Lots of flight ops activity at South Pole last week as we hosted simultaneous mobilization flights for the US, Australian, and Chinese Antarctic programs. A great example of international cooperation under the Antarctic Treaty and hopefully a model for how we will work together in space and on the moon in the future.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/388/258/548/469/169/original/bad0a8ad909b9fb1.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/388/284/266/390/086/original/3d690f4210b785d4.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/388/282/248/197/700/original/d747c142b5419111.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/388/286/270/561/577/original/6bfb524a091666f0.jpg

2024-10-21 04:34:32

More planes mobilizing through South Pole today. One Basler each for the Australian and US Antarctic programs.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/343/540/732/785/507/original/56052893fcdd16bd.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/343/541/737/297/999/original/313883d7dfb90c8c.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/343/543/518/229/502/original/f001ec5925c35e16.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/343/544/833/952/143/original/fa0a7fdf0322a2fb.jpg

2024-10-20 00:34:47

First Basler DC-3T mobilization flight in and out of the South Pole gas station. This bird will be supporting the Italian summer crew at Mario Zucchelli station for the season.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/336/937/387/562/023/original/4f523cc3a49171d0.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/336/938/585/630/809/original/87955f6617f82095.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/336/940/294/708/249/original/fd171fa0e92de58f.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/336/941/483/485/513/original/9c94de2dd6863a80.jpg

2024-10-06 23:52:46

What happens when you leave a truck outside in the elements at the South Pole for 7 months? Well, this:
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/263/161/080/946/914/original/4c462d7b4344a0cb.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/263/161/199/767/196/original/9af34be1940b57ab.jpg

2024-09-13 04:40:31

Pretty incredible to be in a place where "golden hour" lasts for a couple weeks...
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/128/400/390/460/908/original/ea3b7fcc81741834.jpg

2024-09-06 08:07:59

station underbelly
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/089/581/749/583/811/original/bee94ce34fb00d97.jpg

2024-09-05 08:24:16

"As the U.S. presence has decreased, though, other countries have been pouring more resources into the Antarctic. And although it’s not a contest, some experts are sounding alarms about that disparity."
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cutbacks-to-u-s-antarctic-science-risk-geopolitical-shifts-at-the-south-pole/

2024-08-11 04:00:23

- reply

@npub1h56…ch5t there really is only one "night" and one "day" every year given that the sun rises and sets once. as of now you can only make out a slightly brighter patch of sky going around the horizon every 24 hours.

2024-08-11 03:58:12

- reply

@npub1ksq…qxzk https://www.flickr.com/photos/201184576@N02/albums/72177720319345302

2024-08-11 03:34:32

It's a bit exaggerated in these 30 second exposures but even with the naked eye you can clearly see the sun starting to work its way up to the horizon. Sunrise is in a bit over a month.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/941/284/594/785/065/original/a8d0c0225e9b8bbe.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/941/286/370/131/549/original/16b67f22ac6efd62.jpg

2024-08-05 08:37:41

Two cameras, slightly different wavelengths
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/908/488/113/471/096/original/656ab148c57cbe80.jpg

2024-08-05 08:37:41

Two cameras, slightly different wavelengths
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/908/488/113/471/096/original/656ab148c57cbe80.jpg

2024-07-20 04:18:07

happy to report our telescope operations are extremely safe from the recent crowdstrike outage.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/816/887/166/043/974/original/367b5cd85009f82f.jpg

2024-07-15 09:03:40

Our roof-mounted TELMA space laser looking pretty slick last week. TELMA is a DLR instrument that measures air temperature and density from ground level to 100km. It's pretty impressive how much warmer the atmosphere can be 50km up!
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/789/697/561/855/945/original/7492b4bfd6107a7c.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/789/698/029/515/714/original/27d7450d6c079184.png

2024-05-12 09:23:34

Geostorm Day 2: Looking Good In Green 💚
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/427/387/878/855/768/original/015e2a33df29a952.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/427/388/172/800/386/original/9e505fbffe579c33.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/427/388/516/091/851/original/d16852a34e8b6cd9.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/427/388/857/067/831/original/f07c5d8dd6fe8120.jpg

2024-05-11 13:42:49

Took a while for it to make it all the way down to Antarctica but the G5 certainly delivered...
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/422/744/005/042/871/original/7a8295f37ae89972.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/422/744/231/054/298/original/4b4e35896c1bed34.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/422/744/587/166/831/original/d6ea75d3d3a7aaa2.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/422/744/896/833/795/original/895d75151635656e.jpg

2024-05-05 05:11:38

South Pole Station Yuri's Night 2024
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/386/761/866/263/708/original/dcb013d72220bda1.jpg

2024-04-04 21:27:07

If you can ever avoid having to drill and tap 6-32 holes on top of a highly ESD sensitive instrument in a -100F wind-chill I would recommend against it
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/215/061/333/523/482/original/5f34060f59ac4031.png

2024-04-01 09:30:43

- reply

Today we completed instrument calibration checks and prepared the data storage racks to receive fresh black hole observation data at a blazing fast 64 Gbps. The storage array for SPT's portion of EHT alone holds ~1.3 petabytes which we will fill up over the course of several days.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/195/260/800/678/336/original/c18713e4d017b2ab.jpg

2024-04-01 09:29:44

It's a big week for us here at the South Pole as we've begun preparations for this year's Event Horizon Telescope observing run. Recently we installed EHT's secondary and tertiary mirrors on the telescope deck and cooled the receiver "camera" down to just a few degrees above absolute zero. (All in a brisk -100F wind-chill)
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/195/253/563/587/189/original/058be18e104ed756.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/195/253/747/682/756/original/d73ccacae5acee77.jpg

2024-02-24 21:51:15

Question for space friends: Anyone have recommendations for good books/papers on crewed spacecraft design considerations? Ideally published within the last 20 years. I have the Sforza book but it's a bit heavy on general vehicle design/dynamics and light on actual crew systems/ECLSS design which is what I'm looking for.

2024-02-22 10:10:20

LAN parties are not so common anymore in our hyper connected world of 2024 but at South Pole, when the satellites are down, it might as well be 1997 all over again.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/974/585/547/758/224/original/3e293d52de77374d.jpg

2024-02-03 23:53:25

We officially just wrapped up the third coldest January on record at South Pole Station and are rapidly approaching station closure in a couple weeks. Why do we close the station in February? In short, it becomes just too cold to fly the LC-130s and KBA Basler DC-3s that supply us until winter weather starts to tail off in September.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/870/238/204/157/230/original/bdff248774186aae.png

2024-01-23 23:22:55

After a week long gap in resupply flights we had two LC-130 aircraft on the deck yesterday at NPX South Pole Station. I've been supporting flight following in the comms office where it went from boring to busy *very* quickly.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/807/828/965/905/052/original/150760cbc4d86686.jpeg

2024-01-19 02:32:31

This past week we performed some annual maintenance on the rodwell. Over time, the ~160 foot hole from the surface to the reservoir begins to close up and needs to be re-melted. We do this by slowly lowering a 400 pound cone of naval brass heated to 250 F back down the hole.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/780/267/877/708/233/original/32389da623855871.jpeg

2024-01-19 02:27:07

So how do you make water at the South Pole?
It might seem simple since there are seven million cubic miles of frozen freshwater all around us, but the reality is a bit more interesting.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/780/245/378/560/178/original/4c26affcf95bc137.jpeg

2024-01-08 02:49:57

Had a neat opportunity to poke around a KBA Basler DC-3. It's in pretty good shape for an 82 year old aircraft that saw service on D-Day!
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/718/049/830/467/767/original/c896ff20156e4315.jpeg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/718/050/029/516/411/original/24e2bbf16edc82af.jpeg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/718/050/458/083/401/original/0874efae762b0063.jpeg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/718/050/483/405/978/original/dfcea3baa3a40b1f.jpeg

2024-01-02 21:46:50

This would be your view if you were the secondary mirror of the South Pole Telescope. Light enters the cabin from the 10-meter primary dish at the top of the photo and is redirected via two mirrors through IR-absorbent windows and into the SPT3G instrument where sensors held at high vacuum and three-tenths of a degree above absolute zero collect valuable data that helps us understand how our universe works.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/688/539/572/347/363/original/031d94f51e2e5bde.jpeg

2023-12-27 00:14:56

NY Air National Guard LC-130 on the deck at NZSP South Pole Station
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/649/493/517/474/848/original/e376ba4084fef5df.jpeg

2023-12-23 20:15:14

Happy Summer Solstice from the South Pole! The sun reached an annual peak of 23.5 degrees above the horizon yesterday. 🌞
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/631/565/587/868/261/original/9416d2ae21a7694c.jpg

2023-11-14 20:36:10

Had a great opportunity yesterday to visit the NASA GUSTO telescope at the Long Duration Balloon facility on the Ross Ice Shelf. GUSTO will fly on a football field sized balloon to ~120,000 ft to study the interstellar medium using far infrared detectors.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/410/816/700/395/064/original/76fb72b44f360d15.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/410/816/879/785/730/original/f29b6ffd1b370392.jpg
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https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/111/410/817/523/617/152/original/35277615d0452aff.jpg

2022-11-07 06:08:12

hi my name is kevin (he/him)
in my day job i develop hardware for #rockets that launch #satellites to #space from an airplane. sometimes i make that hardware with #lasers but not always.
outside of work i #scuba 🤿 dive, #run 🏃‍♂️ marathons, brew #sake 🍶, and turn wrenches on an old #jeep 🚙 that is dissociating as fast as it can into Fe2O3.
hoping to meet some cool people here. #introduction