Another day in paradise...
Jul. 9th, 2006 03:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpA busload of people turned out to see the spacecraft, cocooned in its container, unloaded from the Antonov, but only a minivan was required to transport the crew sent to load the empty container back into the cargo plane. I find that curious, as both operations provide the same spectacle of a crane hoisting a huge breadbasket from one place and depositing it in another.
I mean, here's a shot of the container, the crane, and the aircraft (can you tell whether it's being loaded or unloaded?):
(For the record, it's a shot taken during unloading.)
Here's a shot of the aircrew adjusting the ramps in front of the plane yesterday:
And here's a shot of the crew of the rail-mounted crane that did the transfer (note the hard hat on the guy standing on the left; it appears to be a recycled army helmet):
In any event, the operation went off without a hitch yesterday, if you don't count the fact that Alex P., the Russian lead, felt compelled to "shout encouragement to his men" to get them started. In any event, we were largely done by noon, had lunch in the shade outside the customs house, said our farewells to the folks flying out with the Antonov, and returned to the hotel area by 2 pm.
The work must have been more stressful than I imagined, for after a quick lunch, I went upstairs and, intending to nap, prompty fell asleep for nearly three hours.
The French team has been working a two-shift schedule, from 6 am to midnight, but last night, they decided to call it a day early, which eliminated the need for me to swing by the полтинник for the late evening shift. As the French prepared to depart for a trip to the Luna Club in town, I ate dinner and was informed that a friendly card game was being organized for later. I took my time over dinner, absorbing the ambiance and listening to folks discuss the latest issues.
The game went well, all things considered, and the cards took a back seat to the scintillating company. (Yes, I came out negative. Why do you ask?)
A trip to town had been scheduled today, after the required 8-hour break to allow the poor bus driver to sleep after returning the Luna revelers in the wee hours. I am the on-call interpreter, and thus cannot leave Area 95, which has its advantages. I managed to do my laundry and read a mystery paperback from the library downstairs.
I mean, here's a shot of the container, the crane, and the aircraft (can you tell whether it's being loaded or unloaded?):
(For the record, it's a shot taken during unloading.)
Here's a shot of the aircrew adjusting the ramps in front of the plane yesterday:
And here's a shot of the crew of the rail-mounted crane that did the transfer (note the hard hat on the guy standing on the left; it appears to be a recycled army helmet):
In any event, the operation went off without a hitch yesterday, if you don't count the fact that Alex P., the Russian lead, felt compelled to "shout encouragement to his men" to get them started. In any event, we were largely done by noon, had lunch in the shade outside the customs house, said our farewells to the folks flying out with the Antonov, and returned to the hotel area by 2 pm.
The work must have been more stressful than I imagined, for after a quick lunch, I went upstairs and, intending to nap, prompty fell asleep for nearly three hours.
The French team has been working a two-shift schedule, from 6 am to midnight, but last night, they decided to call it a day early, which eliminated the need for me to swing by the полтинник for the late evening shift. As the French prepared to depart for a trip to the Luna Club in town, I ate dinner and was informed that a friendly card game was being organized for later. I took my time over dinner, absorbing the ambiance and listening to folks discuss the latest issues.
The game went well, all things considered, and the cards took a back seat to the scintillating company. (Yes, I came out negative. Why do you ask?)
A trip to town had been scheduled today, after the required 8-hour break to allow the poor bus driver to sleep after returning the Luna revelers in the wee hours. I am the on-call interpreter, and thus cannot leave Area 95, which has its advantages. I managed to do my laundry and read a mystery paperback from the library downstairs.
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Unloaded
Date: 2006-07-09 11:09 am (UTC)Unloaded, but not because of the obvious reasons (#1 you said it was being unloaded, #2 why would they be loading the satellite at Baikonur?).
Given the apparent size of the satellite and it's carrier, I wouldn't want to put in onto the carrier that close to the aircraft. I'm betting the clearances inside the cargo compartment weren't very big, which means you want the carrier to go in exactly straight, and there's just too much room for error if you're doing that so close to the airplane. Better to put the satellite onto the carrier somewhere else and roll the carrier to the airplane from some distance away (giving you space to adjust the alignhment). Also, loading the satellite onto the carrier is probably a time-intensive operation, and the Antonov doesn't need to be on the ground for that.
On the other hand, when you're unloading, yeah get that puppy off the carrier as soon as it's out the nose. You've then got the carrier cleared more quickly, which means it can be returned to the airplane more quickly, which means the airplane can be back in the air and generating revenue more quickly.
How'd I do?
Re: Unloaded
Date: 2006-07-11 11:37 am (UTC)Technically, the key part of the question was: here's a shot of the container, the crane, and the aircraft [emphasis mine], whereupon my question is: Can you tell if the container is going on or off the plane?
Your answer, I am afraid, is above my head. I can tell you, though, that the aircraft, ramp, and the rail-mounted crane stayed in the same position for both operations (an additional reason I posed the question as I did). I can also state that the crane operator could probably thread a needle with his equipment, if he could get a fine enough gripper; he placed the container onto the ramp to within a half centimeter of where it had to be.
Cheers...