REVISIONS PROPOSED BY KIBRICK, 6 MAY 2003 - NOT YET APPROVED BY WMKO
Background
All Keck science instruments have been used routinely for
"remote observing" from Keck Headquarters in Waimea for several
years, and the observatory is working to enable observing from
the U.S. mainland as well.
This process of developing a system for mainland operations is
an experiment that is by no means complete. We expect that some
time will be required before we are ready to support mainland
operations on anything like a regular basis.
This document describes the current restrictions on and
procedures for carrying out Keck observing from the mainland.
Notes
- Not all instruments are available.
Mainland observing is currently possible only with HIRES,
ESI, LRIS, and DEIMOS. The software architecture for the
infrared instruments is radically different, and we have not
determined what would be required to support mainland
operations of NIRSPEC, NIRC2, NIRC or LWS. With NIRC2 and
NIRSPEC+AO there is the added substantial problem of
interacting with the Adaptive Optics system.
- Two modes of operation are available:
- Eavesdrop mode:
At least one member of the observing team (who is
experienced in using the scheduled instrument) observes
from Waimea, while other members of the team observe from
the mainland. Control of the instrument is shared between
the two sites, with Waimea having primary responsibility
for operating the instrument. Requests to eavesdrop
must be made at least two weeks prior to the run.
- Mainland-only mode:
The entire observing team observes from the mainland,
with remote support from the instrument scientist in
Waimea. While this mode of operation may eventually
be available for use by most observers, during the
startup phase, CARA requires that at least one member
of the mainland team must be a "black belt" observer,
i.e., one having extensive and relatively recent
experience with operating the scheduled instrument.
Requests for mainland-only observing should be made
on your Keck observing proposal; however, for semester
2003A only, you may request mainland-only observing up
to 6 weeks before your run.
- Available sites.
As of this writing, mainland observing is fully supported
only at UCSC. UCSD has completed installation and tests of
all equipment and has begun conducting mainland observing trials.
The eavesdrop-mode of observing is fully supported at Caltech,
and mainland-only observing will be supported once testing and
certification of their ISDN fall-back network is completed.
Policies applicable permanently
- Mainland operations must impose no additional support
burden on CARA staff beyond that imposed by operation from
Waimea HQ. In particular, please note that:
- All setup, configuration and maintenance of software
needed at the mainland site is the sole responsibility
of that site.
- The mainland operations site must provide its own
software support for startup and connection to CARA.
- A permanent mainland operations facility is
required. Rolling workstations and/or teleconferencing
equipment in and out of a shared room will not provide
the configuration stability needed for reliable mainland
operations.
- Support Astronomers (formerly called Instrument
Specialists) will be available as usual at Waimea HQ for
consultation during the hours they would normally be
available if the observer were here. Instrument and
session setup can occur only during the normal setup
time (2:00pm to 5:00pm HST).
- CARA staff will not be available as backup observers
in the event that the mainland connection goes down.
The observing team must either provide its own backup
observer in Waimea, or take the risk of lost time due to
connection failures.
- CARA staff will not be on-call to resolve problems
with the mainland connections. Troubleshooting
connection problems is the sole responsibility of staff
at the mainland site, and the mainland site must provide
its own on-call support for these.
- Because interaction between the observers and their
Support Astronomer will be limited to the videoconference
connection, at least one observer highly experienced with that
instrument must be present and supervising the operations at
the mainland site when operating in the mainland-only observing mode
- All mainland operations sites must be equipped to CARA's
specifications. Specifically, each mainland site must install
specific hardware to support fallback to an ISDN communication
link in case of interruptions in internet service.
- All mainland operations sites should be equipped and
configured so that from CARA's perspective there are no
differences among them. CARA cannot support multiple
connection modes or configurations for mainland operations.
- All mainland operations sites should configure their
observer environments to "look and feel" as much as possible
like the standard environments at Waimea HQ. This will ease
the startup for observers and simplify support and
troubleshooting.
- CARA reserves the right to change security systems,
including firewalls, secure shells, etc, at any time as CARA
deems necessary to protect its internal network.
- Adequate network and physical security of the mainland
observing facility is required at all times. UCSC has provided
a locked room, as well as a separate subnet/router to ensure
that the remote observing computers are not on the same
physical network as other campus computers. CARA reserves the
right to refuse network connections from computers that, in
CARA's judgment, are not adequately secured. CARA may
disconnect the remote site at any time, even while observing
is in progress, if in CARA's judgment the connection is
causing a damaging breach of CARA's network security.
Additional policies applicable during experimental phase
- Mainland operations will be permitted only upon unanimous
consent of the observers, support personnel at the local site,
and CARA. Each request for mainland operations will be judged
on a case-by-case basis.
- Only test runs with HIRES, ESI, LRIS, and DEIMOS will be
supported until further notice from CARA. Other instruments
will be added at such time as CARA can provide any necessary
support for reconfiguring and testing the observing software.
- At least one "black belt" observer (i.e., one who is
highly experienced with that instrument) must be present and
supervising the operations at the mainland site when operating
in the mainland-only observing mode.
- Mainland operations will only be permitted from a remote
site after thorough daytime testing has demonstrated that the
remote site is adequately equipped and supported to handle the
proposed observing.
Please contact CARA directly for further information.
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Last modified: Thu Dec 19 15:35:28 HST 2002
