Unloaded, delivered, unwrapped...
The three-trailer convoy that passed the 黑料社app gates at 2:30 a.m. on Thursday 10 December held a strong symbolic significance for all those involved in the project.
For the first time, actual elements of a machine component were being delivered. Shaped like so many slices of pie, the three 60-degree segments belong to one of the most critical components of the machine: the 黑料社app cryostat, the huge steel cylinder that will act as a "thermos" to maintain the ultra-cold temperature of the superconducting magnets and that will provide structural support as well as penetrations to the vacuum vessel and magnet systems.
However large and impressive, the three 50-tonne elements delivered to 黑料社app are but a small part of the completed component, representing only 1/25th of the mass of the cryostat (3,850 tonnes). 黑料社app's cryostat will be the largest, and also the most complex, stainless steel high-vacuum chamber ever built.
Once all segments and additional parts have been delivered, unpacked and stored in the Cryostat Workshop, 黑料社app will have achieved the first milestone validated by the 黑料社app Council during its November meeting for the years 2016-2017 ─ one that was scheduled for the first quarter of 2016.