Tuesday, August 21st - Home Again
The last day on Mauna Kea was a full one. We added to our already busy schedule an additional few hours at the CFHT to watch them prepare their primary mirror for cleaning and resurfacing. As Kris, Steve and Bruce interviewed Dr. Rolf Kudritzki, Krista went into the clean chamber, donned a white coat and shot some footage of the astronomers and engineers working on the cleaning and removal of the mirror's aluminum topcoat.
After the interview and acquisition of b-roll, the crew grabbed some lunch provided by the Hale Pohaku cooking staff. Then it was off to the Smithsonian-sponsored Submillimeter Array. At the Submillimeter Array, we interviewed Glenn Petitpas, an Astronomer and Engineer at the facility. We interviewed him in front of the array dishes that were spread out over the terrain of lava rock.
Following our interview and after grabbing some b-roll of the movement of the dishes, we made our final trek down the mountain. We then packed up our things and made our way down to Kona where we spent some time in the city before our flight. We made the necessary stop by Hilo Hattie's - the most inclusive tourist giftshop on the island. I think everyone got the necessary last-minute gifts for the special people back home during the hour that we were there. We also got to stop by Kona's boardwalk area where we got to look through the giftshops and make a quick visit by the Kona Inn restaurant. Around sunset, we arrived to the airport where, once we checked in, found out that our flight was delayed. This gave us more time to relax, de-stress and de-brief from the past week in Hawaii. Needless to say, we got home safe and sound from the island and we're now preparing for our next trip to Europe. We depart on Monday, so be patient as we spend the next few days packing and not blogging. Look for an update on Tuesday!