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French dinner...
May. 28th, 2010 05:18 pmAt the risk of giving the impression that launch campaigns consist of one party following hard upon the heels of the previous one, I will report that the French hosted a dinner in front of the hotel last night, featuring a Morrocan dish called tajine, which was served as a slow-cooked stew of meat, vegetables, and spices over couscous containing roasted almonds.
Come to think of it, that's what most "parties" are like at Baikonur: something as simple as a special dish served outside (with the usual salads and side dishes), usually inviting our Russian colleagues, with perhaps the added features of background music. And something to drink, of course.
It was interesting to see the various reactions to the music, both during the BBQ the other night and at last night's tajine dinner. Country music was played at the BBQ, and I caught moments of obvious displeasure on some French faces. Something (I'm not sure what, really) was played at last night's dinner - you could occasionally hear strains of an accordion, if memory serves - but the overall effect, in my opinion, was elevator music designed to make you want to get off the elevator as soon as possible.
On the technical end of the campaign, I was the morning duty interpreter, and so interpreted for the morning meeting, which was a lot livelier than one might expect for this phase of the campaign. By now, the integrated launch vehicle has been transferred to a rail transporter and tomorrow morning, the rocket will be moved from the integration facility to what is effectively a siding some distance behind the building, where shortly after arrival, propellant loading operations will commence to put fuel and oxidizer into the high-pressure tanks of the upper stage.
The process will take the better part of two days, and is considered a hazardous operation, which means that pretty much nobody among us campaigners will be allowed anywhere near the integration facility until the all-clear is given. This will afford us campaigners - well, most of us campaigners - with a unique opportunity to take a couple of days off before the final frenzy of checks, cross checks, verifications, and so on that will take place once the rocket is standing on the pad.
The modified language in the previous paragraph refers to the fact that the couple of days off will involve a trip to the Korkut-Ata monument on Saturday, and apparently another trip for French-speakers to the Cosmodrome museum on Sunday. As I understand the schedule, I am on the hook for both visits, which means I need to brush up on any specialized French vocabulary pronto.
No time like the present.
Cheers...
Come to think of it, that's what most "parties" are like at Baikonur: something as simple as a special dish served outside (with the usual salads and side dishes), usually inviting our Russian colleagues, with perhaps the added features of background music. And something to drink, of course.
It was interesting to see the various reactions to the music, both during the BBQ the other night and at last night's tajine dinner. Country music was played at the BBQ, and I caught moments of obvious displeasure on some French faces. Something (I'm not sure what, really) was played at last night's dinner - you could occasionally hear strains of an accordion, if memory serves - but the overall effect, in my opinion, was elevator music designed to make you want to get off the elevator as soon as possible.
On the technical end of the campaign, I was the morning duty interpreter, and so interpreted for the morning meeting, which was a lot livelier than one might expect for this phase of the campaign. By now, the integrated launch vehicle has been transferred to a rail transporter and tomorrow morning, the rocket will be moved from the integration facility to what is effectively a siding some distance behind the building, where shortly after arrival, propellant loading operations will commence to put fuel and oxidizer into the high-pressure tanks of the upper stage.
The process will take the better part of two days, and is considered a hazardous operation, which means that pretty much nobody among us campaigners will be allowed anywhere near the integration facility until the all-clear is given. This will afford us campaigners - well, most of us campaigners - with a unique opportunity to take a couple of days off before the final frenzy of checks, cross checks, verifications, and so on that will take place once the rocket is standing on the pad.
The modified language in the previous paragraph refers to the fact that the couple of days off will involve a trip to the Korkut-Ata monument on Saturday, and apparently another trip for French-speakers to the Cosmodrome museum on Sunday. As I understand the schedule, I am on the hook for both visits, which means I need to brush up on any specialized French vocabulary pronto.
No time like the present.
Cheers...
