My trip to CERN is getting closer. So far the news I get from the CERN Couirer is good news. The injector ring is working fine, and they have injected low speed protons through a couple of the sectors in the main ring. Unfortunately for me, this time they are taking a very cautious, step by step approach, with the tentative goal of full ring running in both directions and a 3.5TeV collision before Christmas. That energy is about half of what the ring should be able to do, and will not generate any new data that we haven't seen before. Still, it will be a very good bringup test of the entire system.
I can't really fault them for being so cautious. Last year the heat problem the encountered in September was a big setback. They designed a new quench system so if it happens again it will not take out so many sectors, and they designed new test procedures for the connections so they will spot resistance before it gets too hot. And they have been quiet about the bringup schedule. All this makes total sense but for people like me and the press it is difficult to not have a planned 'ribbon cutting' point in time so I can be there at that exact time.
Who knows, though, if they made this like the Superbowl I probably wouldn't be able to get tickets, so I am not complaining.
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