OCBen

Not quite, Adam. Looks like those guys are performing some kind of decontamination. Here's what one of our birds looks like undergoing testing in one of our anechoic chambers. Oh, anytime we set foot inside the "World's Largest Satellite Factory" we have to don smocks and hair nets as you can maybe make out in this photo. It's a clean room environment with strict rules for the prevention of contaminants.

Pencils are not allowed inside (graphite dust from writing with a pencil can potentially become airborne and lead to contamination of sensitive electronics). There is no such thing as an excessively **** retentive employee - I'm actually on the low end of the scale if you can believe that. And before you can walk inside the controlled environment, after donning your smock and cap, you need to step on adhesive sheets that are taped to the floor (and are changed periodically) to remove any dust on the bottom of your shoes. And before you can even touch any hardware you need to wear grounding straps on your wrist, which you need to test with a tester to verify effectiveness and then sign off on a sheet as being in compliance. You then clamp the end of the strap and you're grounded and ready to do your thing.

I design some of the pyrotechnically activated release devices and so occasionally I need to inspect the installations and sign off before they can continue on to the next stage of assembly. It's interesting work, no doubt.