Wrapping up my seventh week at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder, I can’t believe how quickly time is flying by. This week was a big step forward for our fiber project, especially after the pump failure last week. Thankfully, the new turbo pump we ordered arrived early, and Hugh and I, after setting it up, finally got back to collecting data. Luckily, the new turbo pump was faster than the old one, so our down times are less than previous.
With the vacuum chamber back online, we installed and tested the fiber stands we built. We determined that they improved the setup because they blocked all the lamp light and put less pressure on the fibers. Positioning the optical fibers was quicker and we had to change less variables from test to test. Even small differences in setup could mess up our data, but thanks to the stands and improved procedures, we got more consistent results.
A good chunk of this week was spent running numerous trials, tweaking the fiber setup, and seeing how each adjustment affected our results. We also did several control tests where we changed nothing, just to establish a clear understanding of our experimental variance between two fibers. It was repetitive at times, but is was worth it to establish how much the fibers varied from each other. We also worked on new graphs showing the data. For example, we found and graphed the change in light per meter of fiber.
Away from the lab, Hugh and I checked out a Shelby car collection on Saturday. It was pretty cool to see so many iconic cars up close, especially the classic Mustangs. In addition to the cars they had race videos and logs for some cars which was very fun to see. In spite of Boulders hot and rainy weather we managed to get out onto the Flatirons this weekend. It was good to get out after all the repetitive work this week.
With just a couple weeks left, I’m starting to feel the pressure to get as much data as we can before we leave. I want to make sure to make the most of our time here. It’s crazy to think we’re nearing the end of this internship already. It hasn’t felt nearly as long as it should.
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