A Ballet of Dirt and Concrete

Click on image for larger version.

by Brad Plummer

Construction on the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is nearing yet another exciting milestone. Tunneling crews working from the research yard are advancing 17 feet a day, and so far, more than 312 feet of tunnel have been excavated. The road header has been mining double shifts for several weeks, and crews are expected to break through into daylight sometime in the next few weeks.

In the photo at right, taken last week, the backhoe in the foreground is excavating what will become the Front End Enclosure, just west of the Near Experimental Hall. The tunneling break-through point lies just beyond the steel girders in the middle distance. Visible in the background is a semi-circular sloped area that clears the way for Building 3.1, which will house support equipment for the tunnel below. The fan-shaped pit is the cost-saving result of an idea proposed by LCLS project member Dick McDonald. Affectionately dubbed the "Dick McDonald Amphitheater," the site's sloping walls obviate the need for an expensive retaining wall around Building 3.1.

Stay tuned to SLAC Today for further updates as the tunneling break-through approaches.

Last April SLAC held an Ice Cream Social in celebration of first electrons from the newly installed Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) injector system. I vividly recall the sense of satisfaction and pride we all felt upon seeing the first detector-screen images. After years of preparation, the official start of commissioning of the LCLS had begun.

A number of technical challenges presented themselves before commissioning began, thus delaying the planned start-date by a few months. But thanks to the diligence and expertise of the many groups who pushed forward, by the time the Beam Authorization Sheet reached my desk with all the necessary signatures, we were actually farther along in terms of readiness than we would have been otherwise.

Now, many weeks later, the exciting beginning of last April has progressed with great speed, and the commissioning process is now ahead of schedule. The original schedule had allotted up to 2 months from first electrons to having the injector and adjacent portions of the linac tuned and a suite of diagnostic instruments installed. Instead of 2 months, the goal of accelerating electrons to 250 MeV, past the first bunch compressor to a beam stopper along the main linac, took only 4 days—a remarkable achievement by any measure.

Much of the work of commissioning the LCLS takes place out of view, in control rooms, tunnels and shielded vaults sustained by the skill of the dedicated group of commissioners, the engineering staff that built the new LCLS components, the beam operators and the linac maintenance staff. Meanwhile the work on completing the civil construction, the control software and the technical components continues at a furious pace, driven by hundreds of SLAC staff and staff from our collaborators at Argonne National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. I offer my ongoing admiration for what continues to be one more success upon another.

Photos From the 2007 ILC LCWS Workshops

from ILC Newsline

This year's International Linear Collider (ILC) workshop and Linear Collider Work Shop (LCWS) took place at DESY in Hamburg, Germany, last week. Photos from the first day are now available online.

Sharepoint 2007
Now Online

by Ken Kingery

SLAC Space, which utilizes the new Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007 (MOSS), came online yesterday afternoon, replacing SLAC Portal, which used the older Sharepoint 2003 program. There are many new features and upgrades in the new program, but all of the same functions of Sharepoint 2003 are still there.

"If you could use Sharepoint 2003, you can use MOSS," said Brian Scott.

Both programs make collaboration on documents easier by allowing peers to review and edit files. They also provide a workflow management system, which allows documents to flow down SLAC's departmental hierarchy. For example, if the DOE rolls out a new safety regulation, the program makes the process of drafting, approval, and distribution of a new rule through management, supervisors, and employees much easier.

"SLAC Space helps take policies to procedures and procedures to actions," said Scott.

All content on SLAC Portal was migrated to SLAC Space, and users can find all documents in exactly the same place. The only difference is the substitution of "slacspace" for "slacportal" when linking to a document or website. For example, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) SLAC Portal webpage was previously https://sharepoint.slac.stanford.
edu/LCLS, but is now https://slacspace.slac.stanford.
edu/LCLS.

Otherwise, the new program works just like the old one. However, there are many new features that Scientific Computing and Computing Services will slowly make users aware of. Training sessions are being planned to explore the new functions available SLAC Space.

Some of these features include: full functionality for Firefox users, improved, programmable searches, more complex workflow management, wiki pages, and blogs.

SLAC Portal was taken down on June 1. All content was migrated to SLAC Space, which is now up and running.

For more information, contact Brian Scott.

Safety Firsts

by John Cornuelle

Most injuries at SLAC are from activities that we all engage in many times a day—walking around the site, going up or down stairs, or carrying or moving things. If there are 1,500 staff members at SLAC, and we all do these activities every day, why is it that we see so few of these injuries (maybe one or two per month)?

Events (see all | submit)

June 5 - 9: (8:00 a.m.) BaBar Collaboration Meeting
June 7: (1:30 p.m.) SLUO Annual User's Meeting

Access (see all)

Announcements
(see all | submit)

Lab Announcements

Community Bulletin Board

News (see all | submit)

Divided Science Committee Sends ARPA-E Bill to House Floor FYI
Sounding out the Big Bang Physics Web

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View online at http://today.slac.stanford.edu//.

A Ballet of Dirt and Concrete Click on image for larger version. by Brad Plummer Construction on the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is nearing yet another exciting milestone. Tunneling crews working from the research yard are advancing 17 feet a day, and so far, more than 312 feet of tunnel have been excavated. The road header has been mining double shifts for several weeks, and crews are expected to break through into daylight sometime in the next few weeks. In the photo at right, taken last week, the backhoe in the foreground is excavating what will become the Front End Enclosure, just west of the Near Experimental Hall. The tunneling break-through point lies just beyond the steel girders in the middle distance. Visible in the background is a semi-circular sloped area that clears the way for Building 3.1, which will house support equipment for the tunnel below. The fan-shaped pit is the cost-saving result of an idea proposed by LCLS project member Dick McDonald. Affectionately dubbed the "Dick McDonald Amphitheater," the site's sloping walls obviate the need for an expensive retaining wall around Building 3.1. Stay tuned to SLAC Today for further updates as the tunneling break-through approaches.

Last April SLAC held an Ice Cream Social in celebration of first electrons from the newly installed Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) injector system. I vividly recall the sense of satisfaction and pride we all felt upon seeing the first detector-screen images. After years of preparation, the official start of commissioning of the LCLS had begun. A number of technical challenges presented themselves before commissioning began, thus delaying the planned start-date by a few months. But thanks to the diligence and expertise of the many groups who pushed forward, by the time the Beam Authorization Sheet reached my desk with all the necessary signatures, we were actually farther along in terms of readiness than we would have been otherwise. Now, many weeks later, the exciting beginning of last April has progressed with great speed, and the commissioning process is now ahead of schedule. The original schedule had allotted up to 2 months from first electrons to having the injector and adjacent portions of the linac tuned and a suite of diagnostic instruments installed. Instead of 2 months, the goal of accelerating electrons to 250 MeV, past the first bunch compressor to a beam stopper along the main linac, took only 4 days—a remarkable achievement by any measure. Much of the work of commissioning the LCLS takes place out of view, in control rooms, tunnels and shielded vaults sustained by the skill of the dedicated group of commissioners, the engineering staff that built the new LCLS components, the beam operators and the linac maintenance staff. Meanwhile the work on completing the civil construction, the control software and the technical components continues at a furious pace, driven by hundreds of SLAC staff and staff from our collaborators at Argonne National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. I offer my ongoing admiration for what continues to be one more success upon another. Photos From the 2007 ILC LCWS Workshops from ILC Newsline This year's International Linear Collider (ILC) workshop and Linear Collider Work Shop (LCWS) took place at DESY in Hamburg, Germany, last week. Photos from the first day are now available online.	Sharepoint 2007 Now Online by Ken Kingery SLAC Space, which utilizes the new Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007 (MOSS), came online yesterday afternoon, replacing SLAC Portal, which used the older Sharepoint 2003 program. There are many new features and upgrades in the new program, but all of the same functions of Sharepoint 2003 are still there. "If you could use Sharepoint 2003, you can use MOSS," said Brian Scott. Both programs make collaboration on documents easier by allowing peers to review and edit files. They also provide a workflow management system, which allows documents to flow down SLAC's departmental hierarchy. For example, if the DOE rolls out a new safety regulation, the program makes the process of drafting, approval, and distribution of a new rule through management, supervisors, and employees much easier. "SLAC Space helps take policies to procedures and procedures to actions," said Scott. All content on SLAC Portal was migrated to SLAC Space, and users can find all documents in exactly the same place. The only difference is the substitution of "slacspace" for "slacportal" when linking to a document or website. For example, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) SLAC Portal webpage was previously https://sharepoint.slac.stanford. edu/LCLS, but is now https://slacspace.slac.stanford. edu/LCLS. Otherwise, the new program works just like the old one. However, there are many new features that Scientific Computing and Computing Services will slowly make users aware of. Training sessions are being planned to explore the new functions available SLAC Space. Some of these features include: full functionality for Firefox users, improved, programmable searches, more complex workflow management, wiki pages, and blogs. SLAC Portal was taken down on June 1. All content was migrated to SLAC Space, which is now up and running. For more information, contact Brian Scott. Safety Firsts by John Cornuelle Most injuries at SLAC are from activities that we all engage in many times a day—walking around the site, going up or down stairs, or carrying or moving things. If there are 1,500 staff members at SLAC, and we all do these activities every day, why is it that we see so few of these injuries (maybe one or two per month)?	Events (see all \| submit) June 5 - 9: (8:00 a.m.) BaBar Collaboration Meeting June 7: (1:30 p.m.) SLUO Annual User's Meeting Access (see all) Alpine Gate & PEP Ring Road closed Gates 17 & 30 open 24-7 Research Yard bisected Announcements (see all \| submit) Lab Announcements ESH Training program changes for 2007 Sharepoint 2007 now online Community Bulletin Board Welcome back, Sylvia! Karen Kruger's Retirement Party Juneteenth T-shirts for Sale! Fremont Artists Open Studio Art Sale/Tour News (see all \| submit) Divided Science Committee Sends ARPA-E Bill to House Floor FYI Sounding out the Big Bang Physics Web
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