How do you get a 5,000-pound, 9-foot-tall
dark matter detector nearly a mile
underground? Very carefully. In Sanford
Underground Research Facility's surface
clean room,
the LUX-ZEPLIN collaboration spent
months assembling LZ's inner detector.
In October, it was ready for transport to
the underground. This high-stakes move
was meticulously planned and practiced.
It required transporting the detector
from the cleanroom to the Yates Headframe,
down a mile deep shaft and through
a narrow drift on the 4850 Level — all
without damaging or dirtying the
detector. To keep LZ well-sealed from any
contaminants during its journey, the
detector was triple-wrapped in
protective plastic and secured in a
frame for transport. A forklift slowly
carried the detector to the Yates Headframe. There, engineers carefully attached
the frame to the underside of the cage
with slings and straps. The detector
narrowly fit in the elevator shaft. A
trip that normally lasts 12 minutes took
over an hour as the crew slowly moved
the detector nearly a mile underground.
Once detached from the cage on the 4850
Level, the detector was moved through the
drift using air skates on a temporarily
assembled surface. That evening, LZ
collaboration members around the world
received news that the move was
successful. Now, the detector must be
installed in the Davis Cavern water tank.
There, in 2020,
LZ will begin its search for a dark
matter.
