Kitt Peak
Kitt Peak was the first national observatory in the US. It's just west of Tucson and has 23 telescopes on top of the mountain. I got there around 10am and left around 3, there was a lot to do!
Solar
The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope is the largest of its kind in the world. The light enters at the mirrors at the top, reflects down the long shaft, then back up to another mirror where the observation platform is, then down to the labs below. Since it was christmas eve there wasn't anyone working - what, no non christian astronomers? Fortunately there were still tours going on.
2.1m
The 2.1m Telescope was built in 1964 and is still in high demand. They can bolt different sensors onto the bottom plate, depending on what information they want to detect.
4m
The Mayall 4m Telescope was built in 1970. It is huge. The building that houses it is 18 stories tall, on top of the 6875 feet of the mountain. The photos really don't show how big this thing is. The docent said that when they brought up the dome pieces, the trucks couldn't make the turns on the road up. A crane would have to lift the trailer up and around the curve, then attach it back onto the truck to continue the drive.
Vistas
The air up there is really clear. That's why they put telescopes there... So there were some great vistas that the photos don't nearly do justice to.
Birds
While eating lunch on top of the mountain, these birds would come right up to me expecting food. I was able to get some great photos from about three feet away.
Brake problem
The trip down the mountain was fine, no problems, some nice curves. 40 miles later when I got back to town though I noticed a grinding sound. If you don't replace your brake pads then the metal starts to grind on the rotors, but when I pulled over to check them they looked fine, so I continued on to the motel. Unfortunately, I didn't make it. The sound got worse, and when I stopped at a light they actually seized lightly when I tried to move again. So I pulled into a gas station for further inspection. On the emergency jack, I pulled off one tire at a time and inspected the pads and rotor. On the 4th wheel I finally found the problem. One of the two bolts holding the brake pad assembly to the body had disappeared, which allowed the pad assembly to rotate INTO the rotor when the brakes were applied. I was able to force it back off the rotor, but as soon as I applied the brakes again it would impact the rotor again. This was christmas eve at about 4pm. So I asked inside the quick-e-mart about an auto parts store, but the chick was pretty much clueless. But I decided to attempt to follow her poor directions... About 1/4 of the way there I spotted a different auto parts store, and was able to drive all the way there only tapping the brakes once when I made the u-turn. When packing I had decided to grab a bunch of miscellaneous tools and supplies out of the truck, since I knew I'd be alone in some pretty isolated spots. That turned out to be an excellent (and in the future, required) decision. I had all the tools I needed to repair the brakes. I had to pull off the opposite wheel to find out the bolt size, but 15 minutes before the store closed I had replaced the bolt and everything was back to normal :)
Air Force base, outside
So now with a fixed car and about 30 minutes before sunset, I headed for the Davis Monthan Air Force Base which is where the "Bone Yard" or 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group is located. The US sends all of its military planes here for storage and mothballing. There are over 4,400 aircraft stored there. Unfortunately, from outside the base you can hardly see anything.
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