Food and more (or less)

I never went back to talk about food.  I can say that at least it is plentiful, if not particularly delicious.  Fresh veggies and fruit are a real delicacy, and are rarely available. People were really excited when we got fresh lettuce for a salad the other night.  McMurdites call fresh veggies and fruits “freshies.”  
Personally, of the three meals a day (not including “mid-rats,” for the night shift), I like the breakfasts most.  Sausage, eggs, made to order omelets…. Wednesday morning is waffle day (my favorite), and Sunday (everyone’s day off) has a big brunch from 10-noon.  The dining hall is the main place to eat, but some of the more remote sites (various airfields) in the area have their own galleys.  Most of the time this just means a truck is loaded up with trays from the main dining hall and carted out.  That food is cold and even more stale than usual by the time workers get to eat it. The balloon area, however, has its own cook and galley.  This is needed because of the wild hours ballooners keep.  (The weather never cooperates fully.)  
The galley may not look like much, but it holds a secret.  John the cook is a great find.  He is very accommodating, and his food tastes really good.  He brings his own spices, and only cooks for 20-70 people at a time, so can concentrate on quality over quantity.  Sadly, he only provides lunch, unless a launch makes us keep other hours. After our launch, at 9AM, he made me eggs and bacon.  A really good fellow.  I am always looking for an excuse to spend lunch out at the hangar.

Time’s up!  But tune in next week….
I was scheduled to leave this morning, Wednesday, Dec 21, for Christchurch, but the plane is delayed until tomorrow due to weather.  Very typical.  And tomorrow it may be delayed again.  My colleague was delayed for six days during a bad spate of weather and mechanical trouble with the Kiwi C130s.  Don’t ever make carefully timed plans when you are in Antarctica. From Christchurch I will take a week or so exploring the south island of New Zealand.  I doubt I will be able to file blogs during that time, but I promise to post pictures and news when I return.  So around the New Year, spend some time perusing this blog yet again.
I have fixed the problems with the photo links.  Drop me a comment (as anonymous if you do not have an account, or just sign up for one – free!) if you continue to have problems.

Castle Rock

While I was waiting for my flight to depart, I hiked a 7 mile loop from McMurdo to Castle Rock, a prominent volcanic feature on a promontory.  There are several trails (trail map) around McMurdo, and a few of them require you to check out at the Firehouse before leaving.  If you are not back at the time you say, there is a full alert out and a search party is sent out after you.  Weather turns in an instant, and dangers lurk around the ice.  I carried a radio in case of trouble, and along the trail there are huts with food and sleeping bags for hikers caught in bad weather.  These are called apple huts.  If you see the picture the reason is obvious.  The landscape is fantastic, but even the small scale is interesting.  Here is a close up picture of wind carved snow in an area no bigger than my hand.
You have to wear serious gear in case of trouble, and I wore the infamous “bunny boots.”  These keep your feet very warm, but had given me a blister by the time I reached Castle Rock.  Here I am tending my injury in front of CR.  Right next to me was this exposed rock indicative of the rock and soil in the area.  The origin is obviously volcanic. And of course the volcano is nearby: Mt. Erebus towers over everything as we began our climb to the top of Castle Rock.  The hike to the top of CR was kind of treacherous.  There was a lot of climbing.  Ropes were laid out to help you as you ascended.  Finally, we reached the top of CR (note the bunny boots that gave me blisters).  
At the bottom, my hiking partner, Young Soo Yoon (a colleague on CREAM-II), and I posed for a self-taken photo in front of the rock.  The trip back was all downhill, and we came prepared.  We each had trays borrowed from the dining hall, and we were ready to use them.  The hill felt like it was straight down, so we could get going pretty fast.  
But we had to stick to the trail.  Crevices in the ice, formed as the ice slides down the hill, can be very dangerous.  Black flags mark danger areas.  Note that you can’t tell that there is a crack there.  Blown snow covers the top, making a thin crust that crumples when you walk on it. There are many terrible stories of people who have died stuck in a crevice, including a few who went off the trails around McMurdo in the last few decades.  
There is a funny story connecting these and the trays.  Young Soo slipped off his tray as he was sliding and the tray kept going until it stopped right on top of the crevice with these flags.  He wanted to go get it but I convinced him it would be unwise.  He felt bad because we try so hard to Keep Antarctica Beautiful.  When we got back to the Firehouse to check we confessed that while all the people had made it back, not all our objects made it back.  Immediately the dispatcher said “Let me guess – what you are missing is rectangular, flat, and blue.”  Yup.  Apparently this was not even close to the first time.  The dispatcher confessed that she lost her own tray once.
The rest of the journey was along where the Ross Ice Shelf meets Ross Island.  There were ice formations and pressure ridges.  The total time we were gone was about 5 hours.

Ballooning gone bad

Sometimes things just don’t go your way.  The second payload was launched yesterday, but the balloon failed.  Everyone is disappointed when this happens, whether to them or a colleague.  The more times these launches are successful, the more likely they will continue to be funded.
A high altitude balloon is a very complicated device.  You saw in a previous post how a launch is supposed to look.  Here is a post of how it is not supposed to look.
The ATTIC instrument was taken to the launch pad ahead of schedule.  The launch window, defined by low, steady winds reaching more than 1000 feet high, was moving forward in time.  NSBF worked hard and had the balloon laid out and ready to go.  Launch occurred, but at a few hundred feet altitude some cross winds came in and twisted the balloon.  A collar that keeps the balloon from opening before float was released, and the balloon started opening up more than it should have.  Compare this to the CREAM photos from earlier.  Remember that most of the unopened section you see above the parachute and below the bulb (the portion of the balloon that looks like a balloon) is balloon waiting to open. When all the fabric was exposed it acted like a sail.

The CREAM Instrument and Ballooning in Antarctica

Why do I bother spending a couple weeks in Antarctica?  And why in Antarctica?  The answers to these questions lie in the nature of the CREAM experiment.  The CREAM (Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass) instrument is designed to measure the relative abundance of elements in the cosmic rays at high energies.  
What is a cosmic ray?  The name makes them sound like something out of a science fiction movie.  Really, though, the name makes sense in the historical context in which the name was born.  “Cosmic” just means from outside the Earth, and “ray” is what early scientists called anything that was an energetic fundamental particle.  Hence “cathode rays,” “delta rays,” “x-rays,” and “gamma rays.”  We now understand that most cosmic rays are just the nuclei of atoms (atomic elements stripped of electrons) which were accelerated to near light speed in supernova shocks throughout our galaxy.  The relative abundance of the elements in the cosmic rays reflects nearly the same abundances in the Solar System, with a few differences that are understood.  By the way, the Universe is 90% hydrogen and 10% helium.  Everything else is present in minute quantities.  What we experience here on Earth, with high abundances of iron, nickel, silicon, oxygen, carbon, and other useful elements, is very different from the average spot in space.
What is remarkable about cosmic rays is that as interstellar travelers they give us an opportunity to look at the elemental composition of the rest of the galaxy.  Of course, nothing is that easy, and working backwards from what we detect here at Earth to what was present in the interstellar medium when the supernova shock hit is quite challenging.  A lot can happen to a cosmic ray between acceleration and detection.  Most importantly, the cosmic ray can interact with atomic hydrogen gas and spallate, which means it can fragment into smaller pieces.  Thus the cosmic ray elemental abundances have some elements which are relatively more abundant than Solar System values because the increased abundance was created between acceleration and detection at Earth.
The CREAM instrument is measuring the charge (hence identifying the element) and the energy (think of it as the velocity) of each through-going particle.  An overview of the detector and how it works, as well as additional science information, can be found at http://cosmicray.umd.edu/cream.  The region of energy that CREAM is exploring is interesting because it represents a change from galactic supernova as the source of acceleration to something else – we are not sure what.  The shape of a plot of number of particles detected at a certain energy vs. energy is in agreement with predictions by the supernova remnant theory up until a certain energy.  Then the plot changes shape.  CREAM is trying to understand whether there is also a change in the relative abundance of what gets tossed into space by this new mechanism.  If it is, say, heavier in iron (or conversely hydrogen) than the Solar System abundances (and low energy cosmic rays) that could tell us that the source material is different from just plain old interstellar medium, and could be something exotic like material around a black hole or neutron star.
Why Antarctica?  Cosmic rays at the high energies where CREAM is looking are very rare.  Only a few of the highest energy particles strike our detector every day, so we need to look for many days in order to collect enough of them to be sure of their relative abundances.  The NASA balloon program is a cheaper alternative to satellites.  The National Scientific Balloon Facility, operated out of Palestine, TX (small town near Dallas), offers large high altitude balloons to scientific collaborations as alternatives to satellite launches.  The balloons float at 120,000 feet, above 99.5% of the mass of the atmosphere – essentially outer space.  Remember that a jet flies at about 35,000 feet.
Remember “Better, faster, cheaper”?  Well, ballooning is at least faster and cheaper, and in some ways better.  A typical balloon payload can go from proposal to launch in less than five years, while a satellite instrument is often decades in the making.  And the balloon can be launched for well under $1M, while a satellite is many hundreds of millions of dollars.  The disadvantage is the amount of time a balloon is up in the air is much less than a satellite.  This is where Antarctica comes in.  
While a balloon can be launched from anywhere, it is important that it be done so over uninhabited areas, since its direction can not be controlled.  The winds at 120,000 feet blow east-west or west-east, and switch directions twice a year.  A balloon sent up during “turnaround,” which lasts about a week, will come down near where it was sent up.  But a balloon launched at another time can cruise from 20 to 120 knots, and quickly moves the middle of nowhere to some inhabited area. It is very unpleasant to have a 5000 pound instrument crash into your living room.  So launch sites include northern Canada, Ft. Sumner, NM, Sweden (for an Atlantic Ocean flyover), and Antarctica.  Antarctica has the added advantage that the winds are circular, around the Pole (hence the ozone hole, since the air does not mix with the rest of the atmosphere during the Antarctic summer), so something sent up from McMurdo will return about 10 days later, and then 10 days after that, etc…. Float times are limited by the balloon technology more than safety concerns.  Last year the CREAM instrument flew for 42 days, a record.
Want to follow CREAM as it goes around and around the Pole?  Go to the tracking web site run by Wallops: http://www.wff.nasa.gov/BPO/creamweb/edrs/pos_alt.htm
Here are some pictures of the CREAM instrument this year:
It all started earlier this spring in my lab, fabricating the detector for which I am responsible.
After my part was integrated into the instrument, CREAM journeyed to Wallops Flight Facility near Chicoteague VA for communications systems testing.
The instrument in the hangar here at McMurdo, ready for launch.  Note the NKU sticker.
You have already seen this picture of the instrument hanging from the crane, ready to roll out to the launch pad.

Light humour

Unbelievable, ridiculous, somewhat goofy things I have recently heard or said:
“That’s ah-may-zin!”  New Zealander commenting on something.
“Scott, I am so impressed.  You are really politically adept in these difficult situations”
“The sto-ah is ovah ba the steel-way”  New Zealander giving me directions to the Scott Base store.  Translation: “The store is over by the stairway.”
“I think I got sunburned last night.”  What I said after the balloon launch.
“The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe” – Frank Zappa
Local weather channel for McMurdo Base list the next sunset as February 20, 1:38AM
“I think you found the Colgate plaque lowering operator” on the discovery that typing :D in Yahoo messenger gives a very toothy smiley face
“If you know less you sleep better.”  A colleague reassuring me that not knowing the detector threshold settings is not necessarily a bad thing
“McMurdo is a perfect example of a socialist society.  The workers happily do their part, and in turn are provided with free room and board.  Cash is only good for luxury items, such as souvenirs, alcohol, and tobacco.”  An observation by a colleague.

Vehicles around town

I have been going now for 36 hours without sleep but don’t want to disappoint my adoring public, so I have created this divergence for you. Really, though, I don’t feel the lack of sleep that much because it has been bright as day the whole time. Or maybe it was the coffee….

There are some real interesting ways to get around town here. Some of the vehicles are from the original establishment of the base in the 50’s. They built them to last then. I’ll have pictures and descriptions.


All of these are picked up at Derelict Junction, a rather nondescript mudhole/bus stop by the dorms.


The Delta’s are odd all wheel drive vehicles that are kind of like articulated buses. Passengers ride in the box and bounce around. The wheels are big to avoid getting stuck in mud and snow. Still, they get stuck in warm weather like we have had recently (temps in the 40s). The snow is several feet deep, and turns to mush. And of course “McMuddo” lives up to its name in those times. The box is very cramped. The windows are small and usually fog up so badly or are so dirty that you can not see out. I almost got seasick in there my first ride out (serves me right for trying to write and ride), and others have gotten sick. There are sick bags in the box for such occasions. On the way out here for the flight I got to ride in the front seat, and the view is much better. You can see ice pressure ridges, where the Ross Ice Shelf is pushing up against Ross Island. The shelf is fed by a glacier which dumps a tremendous amount of ice in it, and it has to go to sea, but our little island is in the way.


Ivan the Terrabus – I have yet to ride on this guy but really want to. It looks much more comfortable. I love the name.



Vans– these get used when the temperatures are colder and the ground is frozen. I arrived too late to use those. Notice how large the tires are.


Other modes of transport:
Snowmobiles– as you saw earlier.


Tractors galore– earthmovers, forklifts etc all use treads, not tires, since tires would get mired in the muck. Note the trailer in the picture also has treads. There are some funky trucks that I can’t really describe except to say that they work well on ice and raise a lot of dust in town.


4 wheelers – the NSBF crew could not live without theirs. They have little sleds they haul stuff behind.

Planes and helicopters – The C130’s and LC130’s (in air) haul passengers and cargo (the L means it has skis AND wheels). They are generally operated by the “Kiwi,” aka New Zealand Air Force. I came in on a C130. The C17 Globemasters are operated by the US and haul both. I leave here on Dec 21 (weather permitting) on the first C17 flight out. There are also planes called Twin Otters (on ice in photo above), which go to field camps deep in Antarctica because they can take off and stop on a dime, and helicopters, for nearby drops.


Icebreakers – Sorry, no pictures. Haven’t seen one yet.

Launch!

The instrument finally was launched on its balloon this morning at about 5AM local time.  All the pictures I will show you are taken in the middle of the night.  Hard to believe, considering how light it is.  I have been very busy, and have had no sleep for over 24 hours now.  I am stealing time while the package heads towards float altitude, which takes 3-4 hours.

The process for a launch takes about 9 hours.  First we are hooked up to the crane and many tests run.  Here we are hanging from the crane right outside the hanger in the afternoon, around 2PM.  You can see the solar panels.  The instrument is encased in insulating foam and painted white to try to mitigate the wide difference in temperature in space between facing the Sun and facing empty space.  (This was done long ago.)

We then begin hours of communications tests and instrument liveness tests.  It is important for us to monitor the health of the instrument as it flies around and around, especially during the first few hours to make sure that we have all the adjustable settings correct for the science we want to do.  The instrument is very complicated – I’ll talk about that later in another blog – and all of its components must be checked to make sure they are still working.  The instrument has a variety of communications channels, all of which also must get tested.  First there is a direct radio signal.  This is good while the instrument is visible from the launch site, but it travels a large distance around Antarctica, so there has to be a backup.  There are two, both satellite based.  First, there is TDRSS.  Secondly, the infamous Iridium system.  Both are systems that would also sell you time on a satellite phone, if you wished.  Communications through these systems are very slow and not always reliable. The instrument records all of its data onboard on a flash disk, and sends a fraction through whichever of these systems is available.  We can talk to the instrument during the flight through these systems to further adjust any settings we realize we didn’t get right in the first few hours.  Because communications is so important here there is a building bristling with antennae here.

The launch process is very impressive.  It is run by a subsidiary of NASA called the National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF).  These guys are based in Palestine, Texas, but travel all over the world to launch these large scientific balloons.  Once the decision is made to try a launch, everything must move very quickly.  First the payload (our instrument) is driven to the launch site on the crane.  Then the train from the balloon to payload is laid out.  This includes the parachute, already deployed, for when it is time to end the flight and recover the instrument. (Remember, the majority of our data is recorded on board.  No recovery means no science.)  There is a great bustle of activity as guys move around on snowmobiles.  I got my chance to drive one around too.

This process is no different from how a balloon is launched in Palestine, TX or Fort Sumner, NM, except that the equipment here is much heavier.  Note the long white tubes.  These contain helium, which is used to fill the balloon.  The balloon itself is in a wooden crate, and is hauled out on a sledge.

Up until this point the whole thing can be called off at any time if the weather goes bad.  Everything is set up except the balloon.  Once the balloon is out of the box there is no turning back.  NSBF must launch or throw the balloon away.  It is not possible to repack the balloon while in the field.  It is done in the factory under controlled conditions, and is packed very tightly and neatly, so that it rolls out without twists when needed.

The balloon is massive.  When fully inflated at float altitude it can hold a football stadium.  At launch is partially inflated, but as the pressure drops it gets bigger and bigger.  (Note that we had fog this morning.) It is filled through two tubes.  It is very noisy, but takes less than 30 minutes.  The balloon is held down by a spindle which is mounted on a heavy platform.  After filling for awhile, the balloon stands up, reaching about 150 feet into the air.  The spindle rotates upward, out of the way, when the launch occurs.  While it is standing above the instrument it is 1000 feet tall.  This explains why the winds have to be so cooperative, and why it takes so long to find a good launch window.

That’s when the excitement really starts for a few select members of the launch team.  The balloon and instrument are laid out so that the low winds that are present carry the balloon as it rises over the payload.  The winds REALLY must cooperate.  No shear (crosswinds) are allowed, and the speed must be very low (less than 8 mph).  As the balloon rises the crane driver maneuvers the payload to be directly beneath where he thinks the balloon will be when it has finally extended the train all the way.  A person standing on the crane has a wire in his hand connected to a pin that holds the instrument to the crane.  When he judges that the balloon has taken the weight of the instrument he releases the pin (BE CAREFUL! THIS LINK IS A LARGE MOVIE! 144 MB! SEE NOTES BELOW), and the instrument gently floats into the air, up, up, and away.  At least that’s the theory.  The balloon has enough lift to topple the crane over if it pulls sideways.  Look carefully at the picture of the crane and you will see the side pontoons to help prevent this disaster.  (The movie is in avi format, which I use Windows Media to view.  If you have WM associated with avi it will start automatically.  If not, you can save the file to disk using the right click button, then start WM and then open the file.)  Here is another movie to give you an idea of how noisy the filling process can be.  During this whole process I stood around watching, taking pictures, keeping from getting too cold.

Once loose the balloon ascends at 1000 feet per minute.  This is very fast.  It takes about two hours to get to float altitude of 120,000 feet.  Remember that commercial airplanes fly about 36,000 feet at most, so the balloon is not a hazard to navigation except while it is going up and coming down.  After coming back from the runway I stopped in our primitive facilities (other side is MENs). Then I tried to sleep during this time since the instrument was off and it was 6AM for me.  

Once at float altitude we will spend time fooling around with various settings until we are happy with the performance.  And then we will go back to McMurdo to sleep.  More later….

Launch cancelled

Sadly, the weather is not cooperating (again).  While it is perfect now, the prediction is that the winds will pick up by the time we are ready to launch.  The next opportunity is tomorrow night (remember, the Sun is always shining here, just circling about, higher or lower in the sky).

At least I discovered that the lunch out at the airfield is fabulous!  More on this later….

Launch soon?

This could be it!  The instrument is hanging from the crane and moving out to the runway.  You can track the payload on
http://www.nsbf.nasa.gov/antarctica/ice0506.htm

Wish us luck!  You can learn more about this instrument at
http://cosmicray.umd.edu/cream/cream.html

A comment from the last post returned a good website about Antarctic Research: www.scar.org. This is for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, not pirates or medical disasters. The site has a section on the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, which states that “it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue for ever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord.”  So, no nuclear waste dumping, no military actions (except in support of science).  The site also has good sections on the activities in Life Sciences, Geosciences, and Physical Sciences.  The latter has a subpage on Astronomy and Astrophysics.  All science pages have links to some featured science projects.

BTW – Please put your name when you leave an anonymous comment (if willing) so I know who to thank! (And know who’s reading this!)  I have no idea who left this web site for me, but I thank you.

There is some sort of moss growing tenaciously around here.  It is soft when you poke it.  I got a picture, though I don’t think it will be helpful in identification.  If anyone figures it out, let me know.

Science at McMurdo

There is a large building (named Crary) that houses the various science efforts.  I share an office there with others on my project.  The building is one of the largest in town, and has about four wings.  Lining the halls are displays about the various scientific efforts. There is one display with various fish skeletons, another with sample meteorites found on the Ice, and the halls are lined with posters about projects.  The projects range from biological to geological to astrophysical to oceanography.  There is even a large aquarium full of Antarctic sea life, and kept at a cool 30F (sea water won’t freeze until about 28F).  It includes a touch tank. (The octopus is a fake.) The animals are softer than I expected, and some I have never seen before.

About 30 or 40 years ago a major treaty was signed between the countries with an interest in Antarctica.  The Antarctic treaty stated that the continent would only be used for research, and that every caution would be taken to preserve its unique environment.  As a result old no longer used bases are being torn down, boxed up, and shipped out.  All of our garbage here at McMurdo is transported off-continent.  Maybe someone can look up the details of the treaty and let me know.

Some of the cooler projects (in my opinion) are the penguin studies.  Anyone who has seen March of the Penguins knows how remarkably adapted these creatures are to this environment.  In the water they fly, but in the air they flop.  On land they waddle. There are studies to learn about various aspects of their lives: how far do they range when feeding?  How dangerous are the waters to them (predators and other natural issues)?  Is the presence of humans harming them?  Can they recover if we quit harassing them?  There is a story of a base that was built on top of a penguin rookery and recently decommissioned.  As the parts of the old base were removed (as per the Antarctic Treaty), the penguins began to return and nest again.  They may be resilient.

By far the most amazing feature of Antarctica is Lake Vostok.  This lake is about 2 miles under ice.  It was discovered only recently.  What keeps it in liquid form?  Pressure? Heat from geothermal sources?  Both? Very little is known about it, and most countries want to let it be, thinking that perhaps in millions of years it could become the new cradle of life if something terrible were to happen up here.  However, the Russians want to drill down to it to sample it.  Some scientists predict that the lake is overpressured, and a drillpipe would result in a gusher reminiscent of the gusher days in oil.  The gusher would shoot 1000 ft into the air and last for several weeks before the pressure would be equilibrated.  At that point, it is not the same lake.  Many countries and environmental groups are opposed to the plan to drill.

I tried to go around and collect some web sites for projects down here, but only was able to get one (http://www.esr.org/antarctic/tides.html).  The internet connection from here to the rest of the world is extremely limited, so does not lend itself to web-searching.  I encourage you to do google searches for me and put them in a blog comments box.  Try that feature out.  You might be able to make a comment if you do so anonymously without having to create an account on blogger.com, but if not, you should know that I have not received a single piece of junk mail from blogger.com, so if you sign up I believe it when they say they will keep your information private.   I would like to hear from you!

CREAM progress:  No flight yet due to low fog over the ice.  The winds were light, and the temperature was in the low 40s.  Warmer than Cincinnati!  Of course, where the wind blew directly off the ice, it was more like 32F.  We will try a flight again tomorrow afternoon.  Wish us luck.

To pass the time I hiked up Observation Hill, right outside McMurdo.  I got a great view of Mt Erebus, and some good exercise. The hike is straight up.  A cross on top commemorates the Scott Expedition.  Views across the Ross ice shelf were over a lower layer of fog.

How to get to Antarctica

How to get to Antarctica
You may be interested in what to do in order to go to someplace like McMurdo.  Other US Antarctic bases include the South Pole Station (200 people) and Palmer Station (40 people), located on the Antarctica arm pointing towards South America.  The process of getting to one of the Antarctic bases starts about 6 months before you go.  Raytheon organizes the process and treats it in a very military fashion.  The basic steps are:

• Get an invitation.  This may be due to a scientific mission that you are part of, as in my case, or a job you get to work in Antarctica.  Getting your project approved for Antarctica may take years.  Any equipment shipped down has a six month lead time, typically.


• Medical approval – this is by far the most arduous of the tasks.  Your doctor must fill out a form as long as both your arms put together, poke and prod you everywhere, and bleed you and ship the blood off to Denver.  Then a Raytheon doctor reviews the information and may ask for more, that means back to the doctor, etc.  Basically, they want to make sure that you do not have an ailment that could potentially need immediate treatment, since facilities down there are primitive at best, and Christchurch is at least eight hours away, and more realistically days away.


• Travel arrangements – here, Raytheon truly shines.  Three weeks before you are scheduled to leave, a representative calls you up and goes over a possible itinerary.  After your approval, full price coach tickets are purchased so that they are flexible.  My ticket from Cincinnati was about $2200.


• Travel to Christchurch, NZ.  Finally, the moment is here!  This is done on a common carrier.  I flew 12,000 miles on American and Qantas.


• Upon arrival at Christchurch, you are met by a representative of the US polar Programs office.  After collecting luggage (not an issue for me since mine was lost) you walk over to the PP office, which is about ¼ mile from the airport terminal. Now it is time to obtain cold weather clothing at the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) – this is all done in a couple hours right after you get off the plane. You get at least one of each of these items.


• Wait, wait, wait for good enough weather to fly down to McMurdo.  I waited for two days.  When you finally get to depart, you fly in a military transport plane.  (This one is a C130 Hercules owned by the NZ Air Force and had a 7 hour air time to make the Christchurch-McMurdo flight.) The inside is very crowded.


• if going on to the South Pole, wait for the rare flight out of McMurdo that’s going there.  It could take a week.


• if going to one of the camps, you must have “Snow School” training so that you don’t die at the first bad weather.


• Start the return process, which means waiting for good weather and a free spot on the plane.  Reschedule your return commercial flight (taken care of by Raytheon).  I am now scheduled for a Dec 22 return on a C17 Globemaster jet, which only takes five hours.  What luxury!  Will I really make it that day?  Good question.  My colleague was scheduled to depart on Saturday.  It is now Monday, and he may or may not leave tomorrow.  Plane arrivals are subject to weather, and departures are subject to arrivals.

Life in McMurdo

Mt Erebus

Well, I have been here for two days, so I am an expert now on life at McMurdo.  The base is built on an island connected to the main continent by the Ross Ice Shelf.  The island is volcanic in origin, and Mt Erebus still smokes from time to time.  Nothing green grows here naturally (only in the greenhouses), although we did find some sort of lichen-like stuff on some rocks.   The place is affectionately known as “McMuddo,” as you can tell why from this picture. Apparently the summer melting season is pretty messy since there are no paved roads. 

"McMuddo"

McMurdo is home to about 1000 people at any time in the summer months (October – February), while about 250 people winter over.  The summer people change frequently. Facilities include a library, 2 bars, coffee/wine bar, gym, exercise room, and a small store that also does video rental.  Entertainment options include bike and ski rental, instrument rental, local hikes (short), bi-weekly lectures by various science teams working out of McMurdo, 12 TV stations (from satellite), and drinking heavily.  Sunday is the locals’ day off, and there was a bike race to help the time pass.  Also, I saw several folks out skiing.  Even with all this, though, people get cabin fever.  Living quarters are dorms with roommates.  My room is for two people, but I hear that some rooms are for six. I do not think I would do well with five roommates. All rooms have shared bathrooms down the hall. 

Summer weather mostly is partly sunny and around 32F, but can be windy.  Last week there was a major windstorm that blew snow everywhere and shut down the base in what they call a “Condition 1” situation, kind of an Antarctic “Red Alert.”  I missed it, thank goodness.  During one of those you are not allowed to leave any building.  Hungry?  Tough.  This week has been snowy and cloudy.

Skua

Weddell seal

I have seen very little wildlife other than crazy humans.  There are several skua (Antarctic gulls), and today I saw a large Weddell seal.  I am told that I won’t see any penguins unless I stay until February.  Bummer.


Meals are provided in the only dining hall, narrowly scheduled, several choices, including vegetarian, and all you can eat.  Quality is medium (school lunches are much worse, Luby’s Cafeteria is better).  No fresh fruit or vegetables except after a plane arrives.  The food comes frozen sometime before the previous winter sets in and is not replenished until the icebreaker comes next time (usually in late December). 

Dining hall/cafeteria

A great deal of life surrounds the coming and going of the planes from Christchurch, which bring mail, fresh fruit or vegetables (sometimes), and most importantly, more alcohol.  I was told that McMurdo has the highest per capita consumption of alcohol anywhere, any demographic.  The store only sells alcohol on certain days, and has started limiting the amount an individual can buy on any day.  The planes are scheduled three times per week.  Due to cloudy weather, there has not been a plane for close to five days, and the natives are getting restless. 

Experiment status: I showed up this morning for a 2:30AM transport out to the airfield in the hopes of a morning launch, but it was cloudy and the winds did not cooperate.   I go out tomorrow morning at 7AM for an afternoon possibility.

Arrival in Christchurch, first impressions

The Journey
Monday, December 5: There was light snow in Cincinnati Monday morning as I waited for my departure time.  I only had a 45 minute layover in Chicago between the incoming outgoing flights, so I decided to take an earlier flight just in case.  As I write I am in LA at 3:30PM (local time) waiting for my 8:30PM departure.  

Most remarkably, on the Cincinnati-Chicago flight I sat next to a woman who has a friend who writes science articles out of McMurdo.  I’ll see if I can find her friend when I arrive.  Small world.

All of my electronics is keeping me company.  It all gets recharged in LA, so I spend time searching for outlets.  Ever look for an electrical outlet in an airport?  If you can find one at all they are in the most awkward locations.  Everyone else is looking for an outlet too (for their ipods), so when you find an empty one you have to grab it and guard it.  

Wednesday, December 7: I have finally arrived in Auckland only to find that my luggage did not.  It got a special treat – it will go to Melbourne before catching up to me tomorrow. The flight was tedious.  I can hardly believe that a human being can be cramped in so small a place as an airplane seat for more than 12 hours at a stretch without it satisfying some definition of torture.  But we pay for the privilege!

Again I met interesting people – some also going to the Ice, including Scott-Amundsen Base at the South Pole, and many nationalities, such as Chinese, Irish, and Dutch.  They work on various projects – the Penguin Ranch (I am looking for an invitation to visit), meteorite hunt, ice core drilling, and ICE CUBE (at the Pole), among others.  I even met the self-proclaimed “garbage man.”  He has the contract to take care of the recycling and garbage at the bases, and hires others to do the dirty work, so to speak.  He gets to visit for a couple of weeks every year, though.

Polar Programs and clothing issue
Upon arrival in Christchurch, I met up with a Polar Programs representative.  She already knew my luggage was lost!  Amazingly organized. There were about 10 of us on the flight, and after everyone else collected their belongings we walked over to the Polar Programs office and began the process of getting our clothing issued.  As I suspected, I really did not need to bring anything with me.  Essentially everything I could need was issued to me.  I have four hats, seven pair of mittens or gloves, light and heavy long underwear (the heavy is fleece), and much else.  But no luggage.  I went shopping for the basics – underwear and socks – and will spend a few days with minimal gear at McMurdo before my bag catches up.

We tried on our gear to make sure it fit. Here I am looking awfully hot, so to speak, in full Antarctic gear.

In Christchurch
Thursday, December 8: I spent my first evening wandering the town.  It has more of a European feel than American.  The streets are wider than European, but are pedestrian and bike friendly.  Old buildings are stone, old houses are wood, and new buildings are concrete (they haven’t developed the American love of glass yet, I guess).  Here is a shot of Cathedral Square.  Behind me as I took the shot is a Starbucks, where I am now as I write this, using the wireless internet access.  Access is not free here, unlike in cafes across the US, but you can get the equivalent of a phone card to use up minutes on.

The plan was to go out to the Polar Programs site at 6AM and begin the process for departure to the Ice.  This involves suiting up again and then waiting around for the plane to load.  I got a call at 5:15AM (I was already up and wandering around) informing me that the flight is delayed due to weather until at least 11AM.  I took that time to wander around the incredible Christchurch botanical gardens.  They rank as the best I have ever visited, and that includes comparison to the English Gardens in Munich, and London’s parks and gardens.  The trees there are tremendous! They even have giant sequoia – no joke!  

The rose gardens (both of them) were spectacular.  I have always been a sucker for a rose, especially one that smells good.  A rose bud is powerful package of pure potential.

New Zealanders: First Impressions – In wandering around yesterday I met many people.  New Zealanders are friendly, outgoing sorts who speak with an accent.  I get the impression that many are transplants.  There is a thriving Asian community, and I heard a great variety of languages while wandering around.  

Several of the folks I met were more American than some Americans.  A store clerk found I was from Cincinnati and immediately engaged me in a conversation about the Bengals and their prospects.  A diehard Raiders fan, she has had a disappointing year but is optimistic.  She tries to get to the States for a few football games a year, but is missing this year for a variety of reasons, so she has to get her football fix vicariously.  She was far better informed than I am about football teams this year.


Departure update
I went in at 11:30 and began to dress up in my Arctic gear again.  After 30 minutes we were told that the flight was cancelled for the day, and to back tomorrow at 6AM.  So, this afternoon I snooze in the park and have a beer this evening with other Pole sitters.  Er, sorry, that should read “This afternoon I work hard on all the work I brought with me, and this evening I go to bed early.”  Sorry for the mistake.

Friday, December 09, 2005:  Arrival in Mcmurdo!  More later….

The REAL "Scott of the Antarctic"

At the turn of the 20th century the South Pole had not yet been visited by man. In 1911, Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen found themselves in a hot race for the honor of being first to claim the Pole. Various explorers, including Scott and Ernest Shackleton, had made earlier attempts. In this final race, Scott and Amundsen started at very nearly the same time from very nearly the same place, but with widely different gear.

Most of us think of sled dogs as the preffered method of dashing around in snowy places. Amundsen took dogs and skis, which had been successful on his Arctic explorations; Scott took motor sledges and ponies, which did not do well in the cold. (Scott's first base on this expedition is a short hike from McMurdo Base. )

Both parties spent the winter of 1911 (January - October) preparing for the journey by laying out food depots along the route. At last, the real race began, with Amundsen departing his base camp in October and Scott departing his in November.

Amundsen's journey proceeded smoothly. As he got closer to the Pole, dogs were shot and eaten. The journey continued on skis. At last, on December 15, he reached the geographic pole. Not seeing a flag there from Scott, he knew he had won.

Scott's journey was fraught with problems from the start. The ponies suffered terribly, and were shot and eaten or left as food for the return journey earlier than anticipated. The men hauled the sleds, which meant they were going at a walking pace. Scott would never go faster than that killing pace the rest of his journey. In addition, Scott added an extra man to the final team to go the Pole, which created difficulties with supplies.

Scott finally reached the Pole on January 17, only to find Amundsen's flag and a tent with some unneeded equipment. All of his men were sick from undernourishment, frostbite, and likely scurvy. His team began the long journey back as the weather grew harsher. In a month the first man of the team died. Soon afterward, a second particularly sick man, suffering badly from frostbite, announced he was "going outside and may be some time..." He never returned. Scott admired his English stiff upper lip. Days later, the remaining three men, Scott included, froze to death while waiting out a blizzard, only 11 miles from a food depot.

The sidebar has links to websites which have more information about the race to the South Pole and the men who went there.

Hopefully my trip will not be so eventful.

Starting the blog

I am going to McMurdo Base in Antarctica as part of my participation in the CREAM experiment, which will be sent by balloon to the top of the atmosphere from the NASA National Scientific Balloon Facility launch site there. I should be there for a couple weeks. I will keep up entries as time and connections permit, along with a few photos.

I have my plane tickets now. I depart Dec 5 (Monday), at two in the afternoon. I am allowed about 70 pounds of stuff. After talking to others who have been there I will not be taking more than a few token winter clothing items (certainly my own long underwear). Apparently, the facility provides a vast amount of clothing, about 30 pounds worth, all of which I am required to take to the Ice.

My tickets take me from Cincinnati through Chicago and LA to Auckland, NZ, then to Christchurch, NZ, which is the staging area for McMurdo base. It is hard to tell exactly how many hours it will take to get there, but just adding up flight times gives 19.5 hours. From what I can tell by looking at time between flights, I will spend a total of 5.5 hours on layovers, so that makes… a 25 hour journey, not counting the couple of hours of waiting for the original flight out of Cincinnati. Once in Christchurch, I will get my gear requisitioned, then load up on a C130 transport (apparently in cargo net seating) for eight more hours of travel to Antarctica. I am promised a night’s sleep in between.

Preparations:
I have been buying DVDs, long underwear, hiking boots, and updating my ancient laptop. I have been getting all the software I can possibly imagine I will want installed and running on the laptop. This includes some of the more difficult development code using the CERN GEANT4 particle physics simulation software to try to profile the x-ray component of cosmic ray atmospheric showers. Windows is such a pain for that kind of thing, and I don’t have a spare laptop to run Linux on.

I hope to spend a little time in NZ on the return half. We’ll see. Who knows if I’ll ever be through there again?

What do I expect? I’ll list them and see what happens.
1. I’ll grow a beard.
2. I will spend all my time schmoozing while down on the Ice instead of all the work I am hoping to accomplish.
3. I will have far more cold weather gear than I need.
4. I will have far more entertainment items (books, DVDs, music) than I need.
5. I will wish I had more time in NZ.
6. I will not meet Peter Jackson.
7. I will gain 10 pounds. Apparently there is a full hot breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I can hardly wait!