Author: Luis M.
Today we did our last field trip. I woke up at 6:40, because my team and I had to help with the preparations. As usual on field trips, we have breakfast burritos on the bus, while going to our destination. This is the closest field trip we have done (it was only 30 min by bus). On the outward journey, we passed the base of Tortugas Mountain, and were able to see our telescope dome atop the mountain from up close.
On this field trip we went hiking in the mountains that are seen in the distance from NMSU. It was quite hot and quite exhausting going uphill at first. Every shade we passed through was an oasis from the unbearable heat. Meanwhile, enormous mountains at our sides and the desert landscape of New Mexico accompanied us, and behind us the city of Las Cruces could be seen from a distance.
Eventually we came to some tables between two large mountain walls. If it has rained enough, we could have seen a small waterfall between the rocks, but I can count with my hand how many times it has rained since we arrived here. Afterwards, we climbed to the top of the mountain and we found some impressive views.
Coming back to NMSU we stopped at Walmart. Indeed, that was our last Walmart Trip. Very brief, as usual, but this time it was because we had our trip to the NMSU pool.
I had a great time in the pool. But by far the best part was the huge diving board in the pool. I have probably used it more than 30 times. It was very very fun to jump off the trampoline. After 2 hours of swimming and jumping on the diving board. We played a game of Wizard with the cards. Joel, a TA, had taught us how to play a few days before, and it was quite fun. Even Ms. Martinez joined our party!
In the evening, we went to see the telescopes that the NMSU astronomy department uses. Dr. Jackiewicz showed us the telescopes and it was quite impressive.
There were two domes, with a telescope each, and there was also a smaller telescope outside. One of the telescopes in the dome was not working, but we were able to look through the other two.
There were also meteorites, which we were able to touch. There was one that was completely metal and quite heavy. It smelled strongly of metal, obviously. There were also smaller ones, and they were lighter than the metal one.
There were also two dogs with light-up collars running around while we used the telescopes.
At the end, I had to get down to work. I had to finish my MoG code. I finished it relatively quickly, but my result was wrong. I had to debug the code, a nightmare, since it had more than 650 lines of code. After hours of searching, at 0:30 I gave up and decided that tomorrow I would try again.
Today was the last day before the final stretch of the program. UNC astro, IU biochemistry and IU genomics lived their last day while we lived ours. Which reminds us of the shadow that hangs over us, SSP ends in a week.
It really scares me that it will end, it’s being an amazing experience. But I guess everything has its end (even the universe, even if it lasts 10^10^76 years), and we will save this experience in a special place in our memories.
About me:
Hi! I’m Luis and I’m from Spain, specifically from a small town near Valencia. I like taking photos, playing chess and looking at the sky. I’m highly against using gallons as a volume measure and I really enjoy listening to 80’s music. If you have some time, I would recommend you to listen to Heads over Heels, by Tears for Fears. Seriously, that song is very good.
