| About the Learning Center | Site map | Contact us |
|
| Home | About Suzaku | Science | Education | News | Images | Resources |
|
|
Home | About Suzaku | Journal |
So far, the weather in Uchinoura has been very pleasant. Upper 70s
and sunny for the most part. It won't hold until the launch, of
course, but it's sure nice now. Uchinoura is just like it was last
time; very rural, and not much to do. Last Sunday we GSFC folk and
two of Mitsuda-san's grad students took a bus to
Sakurajima
(Cherry Island), which is an island in the middle of Kagoshima bay.
Actually, it hasn't been an island since 1914, when the last major
eruption glued it to the Eastern side of the bay. A couple more of
those and it'll be glued to both sides of the bay.
Our two-day functional test started on Monday, and everything went as
planned. A long night the first day, but it's worth it when things
work.
One unplanned item was a 5.9 earthquake about 30 km from here. We
were sitting quietly during the test, and several Japanese looked up
and said "earthquake." Then it got stronger, and the rest
of us felt it.
It lasted only a few seconds, and didn't do any damage, but it's
always a little scary being underneath 100 tons of radio antenna when
the ground is shaking back and forth. Course it's supposed to
survive winds of 90 km/s (200 MPH), so it's probably the safest place
to be in an earthquake too.
I'll just stop there for today, because it's time for dinner. And
when dinner calls 'round here, people listen.
|