May 1, 2012
Although periodic updates have been provided through the NOAO Newsletter, this page has not been updated for a while.

As of today, both KOSMOS and COSMOS are complete except for the optics and some of the CCD dewars. The status of the missing items is as follows:

• The collimators for both instruments are complete. The camera for KOSMOS is missing a triplet, which has failed low-temperature testing after cementing on two attempts. A revised approach to the cementing has been devised and will be implemented shortly. The COSMOS camera has similar issues, but we are deferring the work on COSMOS until the KOSMOS cementing succeeds.
• Each instrument will have 2 CCDs: an e2v device with broad-band response, and an LBNL device with better red response. The KOSMOS e2v CCD is ready for integration with the rest of the instrument, but we are using the wait time for the optics to continue optimizing performance. Depending on schedule, we will either perform lab acceptance for COSMOS with this same CCD or with the COSMOS e2v CCD. Work on the LBNL CCDs has not yet started, and they may not be available when the instruments are first put in service.

Barring further problems with cementing the camera triplet, we expect to perform lab acceptance on KOSMOS over the summer, with commissioning at the Mayall to occur after the conclusion of summer shutdown, probably late September or early October. The details of COSMOS commissioning are related to availability of the f/8 focus on the Blanco; telescope acceptance should not occur until after the start of 2013.

August 16, 2011

This page will be updated periodically with news related to both instruments, including updates on commissioning, availability and other information of interest to prospective observers. For the moment, we include an image of the two instruments undergoing mechanical and electrical integration in Paul Martini’s lab at The Ohio State University.

The spectrographs are shown on their handling carts in the up-looking position, which is the same way they will mount in the cass cages of the 4-m telescopes using an adapter that is not shown. The dewars install on the bottom of the instruments. Various covers are not yet installed in these photos.

More information will be provided in the September issue of the NOAO Newsletter. Look as well for an update to this web page in about 2 weeks.