A magnificent team effort
During the last weekend and this week, the LHC has accomplished many tasks: it first circulated two beams in opposite directions, then made them collide in the heart of the four giant detectors and finally slightly increased their energy. Virtual champagne for the hundreds of people working night and day to repair the machine, prepare it for the restart and finally operate it.
The LHC is making the headlines of the world's press but the real emotion these days can be seen in the eyes of the machine operators in the CERN Control Centre (CCC) and has spread all around CERN. Of course, this is just the beginning and the LHC will have to accomplish more challenging tasks but these first moments were undoubtedly very intense, partly due to the fact that last year’s incident is still fresh in our memories.
Hundreds of people have contributed to bringing us where we are today: the operators of the smaller accelerators, the teams involved in the repair of the damage caused by the incident, those involved in the installation and commissioning of the new quench protection system, the people responsible for the cryogenics and finally the operators to whom the machine was handed over only a week or so ago. Now, all the efforts made to design and build one of the world’s most complex scientific instruments are starting to pay off.
The video, photo and communications teams were in the CCC to record these historical moments and make them available to everyone at CERN, the Press, and the general public. Here follows a selection of videos (click on the pictures to view them) and photos. All the material is available on CDS. Read also some of the messages received by the Management and the Communications Group. Enjoy them!