Samson has been crated, shipped, and is currently being scanned. The skull was shipped to the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama to undergo a CT scan. The scan will take approximately 6 weeks to complete. This means that Samson will be gone until sometime in the 3rd week of January. I had the opportunity to travel to Huntsville and help unload and get Samson prepped for his big scan. Below are a few images from that trip.

Samson is ready to be loaded onto the truck.

Samson arriving at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

Samson entering the large room where scanning will take place.

Samson being lifted onto the scanning platform.

Samson ready for scanning (the blue machine around Samson is the scanner).

Finally, Samson undergoing a test scan prior to the actual scan.

Samson being crated for CT scan

Allen and I again donned the suits that make us look like we are removing asbestos from the lab. We looked silly, but it kept the nasty, sticky foam off our clothes and prevented reactions to the foaming chemicals.

We are applying foam to the entire skull now. We got the go-ahead on the CT scan. This means that the skull must be shipped to an industrial scanner in Alabama. The carpenters are making a big crate for Samson (thanks, guys) and in it will go the skull and more foam. This will put Samson in a big solid block of foam that can be rotated without any damage. Here's what the skull looks like now:

We have finished pouring the foam on the right side of the skull. As the skull was being covered to be turned over, researchers here at the museum have been working with outside companies to get a CT scan of Samson's skull. Although we have not recieved a definite answer regarding the CT scan, we are confident that a "postive" answer will come in the next week or so. So now we are no longer covering just the right side with foam but we will be covering the entire skull with foam in order to ship it. A hospital scanner is too small for Samson's skull so Samson will be shipped to an industrial scanner in another state to be scanned. Work on the skull has been slowed down until we know for sure if Samson will be CT scanned.

Right side of skull covered with polyurethane foam (seen from front).

Top of skull covered with polyurethane foam.

In order to prepare the bottom of the skull, the skull will be rotated onto its right side. We covered the right side with a polyurethane foam to protect it while it lies upon its side. The foam is a two part mixture. Equal parts of both A and B are mixed together to produce a chemical reaction that forces the foam to expand and harden. After the foam is mixed, it is then poured onto the skull and allowed to expand. The right side of the skull will now be covered with a plaster jacket and rotated.

Pouring the liquid foam onto the skull

Front view of the skull after foam has expanded and hardened

Above view of the skull after foam has expanded and hardened

Besides being ready for Halloween, Samson is one step closer to being turned over. After covering the skull with aluminum foil, we next covered the entire skull with black plastic. We tried to use a single sheet of plastic so that no openings would be found for foam or plaster to escape through and touch the skull. The next step will be to put a protective layer of foam over the right side of the skull prior to placing the plaster and burlap on top. Then we will rotate the skull.

Plastic is now used to cover the aluminum foil.

The right side of the skull covered with black plastic.

Now that the toilet paper has been positioned on the skull, the aluminum foil is applied. The aluminum foil is used to separate the skull from the plaster jacket that will be put on at a later time. Plaster tends to stick to bone and rock making its removal from the bone a very difficult task. By covering the skull with a separator (aluminum foil, plastic, or paper), it allows the plaster and burlap to be easily removed with no damage to the skull.

Beginning the foil wrap of Samson

The layers-the skull followed by tissue paper and finally covered by foil.

The right side of the skull completely covered with aluminum foil.

Look at the skull now (all that toilet paper covering the skull). Did Samson cut himself shaving? No, we are filling in all the deep cracks and sharp edges with toilet paper before we put on the next layer. After the toilet paper we will be covering the skull with aluminum foil and then we will be putting a protective layer of foam on the right side. The aluminum foil will be applied to keep the foam from sticking to the skull. Finally, a plaster jacket will be placed on the outside of the foam. All these steps are necessary in order to turn the skull over and protect it.

The right side of Samson's skull with toilet paper.

Close up of the teeth on the right side. All the gaps were filled with toilet paper.

If you had not noticed, there is an opening within the bone above Samson's left eye socket. It is very peculiar because no such opening is found on the right side. This pathology or abnormality may be caused by disease, another tyrannosaur biting Samson, or any number of other things. I have removed most of the matrix to expose the pathology more thoroughly. In exposing the pathology, I noticed for the first time that this bone was hollow. This bone that sits above the eye socket is called the lacrimal. In tyrannosaurs, the lacrimal is hollow and may have contained air-filled cavities to lighten the skull. More preparation and research will need to be done on this pathology in order to determine what caused it. See if you can find the pathology as you inspect Samson's skull on your own.

This image illustrates the difference between the pathologic or abnormal bone (bone with hole) and normal bone (smooth bone towards top of image).

Here you can see the pathology from the side.

Finally the left pterygoid and epipterygoid are done. I was mistaken when I said that the bones were not fused. Oddly, they are only fused on one portion of the bone(s). Here is the final product. There is a hole in the epipterygoid. It had been covered over previously by dark plaster, but I found there was no bone underneath.

Now we wait for the protective chemical foam to arrive so we can wrap up the skull and turn it over...