The second floor of the SOC provides rocket launch decision rooms, the GEDDS computer room, and the lower level of the optical observing areas (the upper or catwalk level is described separately). The Visual Observing Room, an atrium with an excellent view to the north and overhead is also available on this floor, and the observation deck can be used for open-air viewing.
The Science Operations Manager's (SOM) Room is the home of the GEDDS computers, and their displays are transmitted via an extensive cabling system to the launch team rooms and to the Auroral Data Display/Conference Room downstairs. The SOM Room also houses the network hubs for the SOC's local area network. Most rooms in the SOC provide standard 10BaseT ethernet connections to the Poker Flat subnet and beyond.
The Launch Team Rooms provide areas for the scientists involved in a rocket launch to monitor geophysical conditions on GEDDS displays and discuss the launch situation. The rooms share a raised computer floor with the SOM Room to allow cabling to be installed easily for launch team equipment.
The unique feature of the SOC is its optical observing facilities. Three dome rooms, the Meridian-Scanning Photometer (MSP) Room, and the Astrodome support the operation of almost any passive optical instrument. Additional domes are located in each of the Launch Team Rooms. A system of cable trays allows instruments in the various rooms to interconnect electronically and to connect to other locations on the range by way of the Communications Room downstairs.
The dome rooms are split-level rooms with an equipment bay below each five-foot diameter observing dome and a catwalk with removable floor panels separating the bay and dome. Small instruments can be mounted in the domes from the catwalk level, while instruments which require a long optical path can be placed in the equipment bay with the catwalk panel removed above it. A similar arrangement is provided in each Launch Team Room.
The West Dome Room is designed for long-term use by Geophysical Institute scientists, as well as providing space for short-term experiments (STEs). The CRL Dome Room is reserved for the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology (Japan). The East Dome Room is available for visiting scientists to use.
This room is another split-level room dedicated to the meridian-scanning photometer (MSP) located in the "MSP penthouse" on the catwalk level. The room also provides some two-foot diameter domes, suitable for all-sky cameras and other small optical instruments.
This room is located beneath a small astrodome on the SOC roof. The astrodome houses the extremely sensitive color video camera used to obtain full-color aurora videos, and narrow-field imagers.
Page last updated on Wed Mar 6 18:36:19 2013, Alaska time.
Page accessed on Sat May 18 19:49:39 2013, Alaska time.
Geophysical Institute
University of Alaska Fairbanks