\chapter{Assembling suspension chains for A+ at LHO}
\label{A}
In 2019 I spent some months working on LIGO Hanford site. Along with the study exposed in Chapter 5, I offered my lab experience in building the HSTS suspensions to be installed for the A+ upgrade. The assembly team was composed by me, Dr. Rahul Kumar and Dr. Jeff Bartlett. The suspensions have been installed in 2021 under the supervision of Rahul. Here there is a gallery of original photos of the lab work done together. It was an intense and very interesting team work, which enhanced my skills in working into a clean room, with delicate structures that needed to be assembled very precisely.

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=1]{images/blades.jpg} \includegraphics[scale=0.8]{images/blades2.jpg}
\caption[Mounting the blades]{Mounting the blades onto the top of the suspension skeleton. On the right photo: the blades mounted and fixed and the required angle.}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=0.7]{images/wire.jpg} \includegraphics[scale=0.6]{images/tension.jpg}
\caption[Preparing the suspending wires]{Left: one of the wire used to suspend the test mass. Right: Technique to prepare the wire with the right tension: a given weight is applied and left for 5 minutes.}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=1]{images/support.jpg} \includegraphics[scale=1]{images/wiresupinstall.jpg}
\caption[Mounting the wires and their support]{Mounting the wires for the test mass suspension on their support. Right: Jeff and I while installing the wire support into the suspension cage.}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=2.2]{images/TMinstall.jpg}\\

\includegraphics[scale=2.2]{images/Rahul.jpg}
\caption[Installing the test masses]{Top: Rahul and I installing the bottom test mass and suspending it with the wires. Bottom: Rahul while measuring the alignment of the test mass into the suspension cage.}
\end{figure}




