This morning the dome crew from Spitz successfully raised the framework for the new projection dome into place.

After being fully assembled on the floor by the end of last week, a set of cables and come-along ratchets were installed to lift the dome up 7 feet to its proper height in the room.  10 steel chains anchored in the roof of the chamber hold up the dome.

The raising took about 1 hour, with the dome just fitting inside the room front to back.  Once in position, the 10 support chains were connected to turnbuckles located at 10 points around the outer rim of the base.  These were then tensioned to level the dome and bring it into the right shape.

Once in place, braces were installed at the front and rear to anchor the dome into place.  By end of the day the work was complete.

With the dome framework in, the crew is cleaning the work area, and moving in the dome panels and special cutting and shaping tables.  Tomorrow we hope to see  the first screen panels in place.

It will take about 2 weeks to put in the roughly 80 spherically-curved panels.

Watch this space and our Facebook page for more news and pictures.