[time-nuts] Time Dilation tinkering

[jimlux]

On 3/21/17 7:12 PM, Chris Albertson wrote:
> "flight" there is the word.    Why drive up a mountain?   Take the clock
> with you inside the pressurized cabin of a commercial airliner next time
> you are on one of those 10 hour trans=pacific flights.   You be taller then
> any mountain and it is actually cheaper then a weather balloon.
>
> Can you get a Rb clock past the TSA x-ray machine.   Maybe if you ask
> first.  There must be a way to hand cary specialized equipment.
>
>

I hand carry specialized equipment all the time and let it go through 
the x-ray.   About 1 time out of 10, they'll ask to open it up so they 
can swab it for the explosives residue ion mobility machine. Nothing 
looks as suspicious as a big block of something with two wires come out 
of it (i.e. a 7Amp-hour 12V lead acid battery).

In fact, I did it yesterday with an unlabeled black pelican case holding 
a 8x10" PC board with a bunch of cards stacked on it.


While I have my NASA ID and a shipping document describing it, I've 
never had to show either. Driver's license, 55 year old guy who looks 
like an engineer, and so forth, so maybe I don't look like the notional 
threat?


When we hand carry "flight hardware" we do put it in a QA sealed (tape) 
antistatic bag, in a QA sealed container, with a special letter that's 
been coordinated 24 hours before with TSA. And we don't let it go 
through the X-ray (although not for any good reason that I know..). 
There's some process you're supposed to follow if they insist on opening 
it so you show up at the airport hours ahead of time.