Day -10 : CryoSat-2 travels to the Silo

No spectacular pictures today, but few more small but significant steps:

• Cryosat-2 has been transported by the "jolly green giant" (another name for the crocodile) from the MIK to the Silo on launch pad 109
  
• The 2 platforms containing the Spacecraft have been mated onto the Rocket
• Platform B has been topped with the PayLoad Fairing.

Edi and I have been authorized this morning to escort the convoy for this about 13,5 kms trip that lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes in total. No speed cameras on the way but nasty holes and bumps that the driver had to minimise for preserving the good health of the spacecraft.

Not a very entertaining trip and much we could do in fact. The only distracting moment was when we saw 2 running guys over passing the convoy on the left side of the road . There were not professional marathoners preparing for the Olympic games but a TV team trying to get ahead for getting a nice shot of the convoy. This just gives an idea of the speed we ran.


No pictures of the convoy nor the Silo can be published as we are getting closer to the military "sphere".

Instead you can just imagine this trip on the model of the cosmodrome below.
as photographed in the Gagarin museum on 30/01/2010.
Just follows the road in white:

• Departure: The MIK building, one of the black buildings (next to the large Soyuz-2 rocket launch site 31 on the right)
  
• Arrival: Launch pad 109 on the left where the green and gray rocket is (2/3) ejected from the Silo

As said above the distance via the road is about 13,5 kms while the shortest distance between these 2 points is ca 8 kms. That is the distance we shall be at the launch day.


In parallel to this transport, few racks of Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) were moved to the Bunker (i.e on launch pad 109 but 30 meters far from the Silo) in order to connect the Spacecraft once in the Silo to the MIK.
These equipment

• the Front End EGSE
• and the NDIU (enabling the connection with the ESOC, the ESA Operation Centre)

were successfully installed and a satisfactory connection was established.

Here under, Karl connecting the EGSE in the bunker:


From this point, CryoSat-2 will progressively prepare for its own life, before the "big"trip...