Category Archives: Uncategorized

On the ice!

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Zigmund Kermish

McMurdo is a strange cross between a mining town and college dorm for scientists and other interesting folks… After many delays, some to be expected for a project this large and complex, others simply out of our control, SPIDER is … Continue reading →

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Closing up SPIDER

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Jon Gudmundsson

SPIDER is a balloon-borne instrument that will be launched in December and will fly above Antarctica, its telescopes and cameras turned toward the skies to observe the faint signatures left over from the Big Bang. SPIDER’s telescopes need to operate … Continue reading →

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Getting to the Ice

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Edward Young

You know it’s time to leave a party when people start talking about the weather. No one cares. But every time we met a fellow traveler in Christchurch, New Zealand, the question was “How’s the weather in McMurdo? Have you heard … Continue reading →

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SPIDER researcher Jamil Shariff interviewed on CBC Radio

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Aurelien Fraisse

A few hours before departing for Antarctica, Jamil Shariff, a PhD candidate in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, talked about the upcoming trip with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Matt Galloway. Listen to it here.

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On to Antarctica!

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Aurelien Fraisse

With the SPIDER hardware having made its way safely to McMurdo Station, the scientists are now on their way to the frozen continent. The first group left their home institutions a week ago today. Graduate students Anne Gambrel and Edward … Continue reading →

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SPIDER Arrives on the Ice

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Jon Gudmundsson

The SPIDER flight cryostat (Theo) has arrived at McMurdo station. Mr. Shrinkwrap appears to have done a great job (see photos below). The first wave of scientists departs from the U.S. this coming Thursday. Excitement is building!

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SPIDER Video

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Catherine Zandonella

Princeton University Office of Communications

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Far above Antarctica, Princeton’s ‘spacecraft’ seeks traces of the early universe

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Catherine Zandonella

by Morgan Kelly, Princeton University Office of Communications Assembled or taken apart, SPIDER exhibits such size and complexity that it’s hard to believe how William Jones, a Princeton University assistant professor of physics, so easily accepts that the instrument will … Continue reading →