Southbound

I'm beginning my 13th season on the Ice and my 11th journey south. Every season's flight is very different, and this year is no exception. I would have preferred to fly on the C-17, but instead I arrived on the A-319 Airbus. It's funny though how a little experience helps one have a better flight. I lined up where I needed to after the safety briefing in Christchurch and got a good seat on the bus to the plane, which in turn, got me
a great seat on the flight.

 
About 3.5 hours into the flight, we started to fly over the Transantarctic Mountains, which form the spine of the Antarctic continent. I never tire of this view of the mountains and glaciers. There is a Qantas flight that makes a similar route to ours on New Years Eve and that costs approximately $10,000 per person. Yes, I get paid to make this flight!


Once we start veering toward Ross Island (where McMurdo is located) we start flying over McMurdo Sound. There are lots of icebergs this season. Although they look smallish, each of these is probably about
the size of a city block.


I've seen this view many times, being on the ramp, (this would be called the tarmac at regular airports) but I don't get to see it often from inside a plane. It doesn't look that much different from last year, although I believe the Ice Runway is a bit closer to Scott Base this year.


This is the typical shot of folks leaving the plane after arriving from the Ice. I was contacted by a representative from the NSF (National Science Foundation) for a photo just like this for one of their early season documents. I submitted it, so I hope it gets used.

The Job Walk

This week, "fourteen Bid Team members representing eight
companies that are bidding on the upcoming USAP support
contract will arrive on station. They will visit the South
Pole, McMurdo Station, Black Island, Williams Field and LDB...
Virtually every building in McMurdo will be visited by the
bidders and their NSF escorts". The following companies will
be represented:

Fluor
ITT Antarctic Services
Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR)
Day & Zimmermann Group
CH2M Hill
Raytheon
Lockheed Martin
CSC

My Interview with Antz

Many times on this blog I've mentioned Anthony (Antz)
Powell, Antarctic photographer extraordinaire. Last
summer, Antz received a grant from the National Science
Foundation to produce a film about spending a year in
Antarctica that primarily focuses on Antz's Time-Lapse
Photography. More information about his work can be
found on these websites:

http://www.antarcticimages.com
http://www.frozensouth.com
http://www.youtube.com/Antzarctica

Last month, Antz sent out an email asking for people
on Ice to volunteer to be interviewed for his film.
He plans for this movie to be shown in theatres
sometime in the next few years (depending on editing
time) and wanted to have some Antarcticans talk about
their experiences here. He's interviewed a fairly wide
range of folks. People who are spending their first
season here as well as others like George (who works in
the office next to me with 9 winters) and me (with 6
winters).

The interview lasted about 20 minutes and he asked these
questions, among others...

What is the best part of life here?
What is the most common question you get asked about
Antarctica?
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have
about Antarctica?
What does being here on the Ice mean to you?
And many many more.

It was fun and Antz said that I gave him some good stuff to
use (maybe he was just trying to make me feel good) but
someday, I could be seen in a theatre near you!

Mass Casualty Drill

Expectedly...Unexpectedly. We had our annual MCI (Mass
Casualty Incident) Drill this morning at 0830. On a
Monday morning??? Bill, the NSF Station Manager has a
habit of keeping everyone guessing about when the drill
is going to be and having them at times that are not
always the best. However, if we actually had a real
MCI, I'm sure it wouldn't be at a convenient time then
either so it makes sense. Today's incident was a fire
at the BFC (Berg Field Center) and at the Science Cargo
building. These are two of the oldest buildings on
Station and have very little if any fire suppression
systems built into the infrastructure. The part I play
during an event, imaginary or real, is to keep a timeline
of events that happen in the EOC (Emergency Operations
Center). Oh...I make coffee too. Yep...high pressure.
Since we've had two actual events this season (The Hagglund
Rollover and the Smurf Shack Fire) this drill for me was
pretty much more of the same and not stressful at all.
However it was stressful for the Medical folks who along
with all of the volunteers performing other medical tasks
that had to take care of the four victims. If this had been
a real emergency, two of the people were going to have to
be airlifted in the next few days. Meanwhile, the rest of
the station would be thinking about all of the fresh fruit
and vegetables on their way south and placing Amazon.com
orders. What??? Is that wrong??? Anyway, the entire
drill went off without too many hitches. There are always
a few and we talked about those in a debriefing later in
the day. Now that we're all trained with all of these
skills, I hope we don't have to use them for real.
to

Walking on the Moon

This winter, NASA, in conjunction with the National Science
Foundation (NSF) is testing an inflatable Lunar Habitat at
McMurdo and it's right behind the SSC (Science Support
Center). I walked over to it last night and took some
photos, but for the most part, it's out of sight, out of
mind for most people. I suppose that that isn't such a
bad thing because we can't go inside since they're measuring
the atmosphere inside with sensors


The inside is heated, insulated and is pressurized. There's
384 square feet of living space and has a eight foot ceiling so
I'm guessing it's fairly comfortable inside. It doesn't look
that cozy, but add a couch, coffee table, wide-screen plasma TV
and it would be quite the hangout pad.


NASA is looking into this type of structure (along with many others)
as a type of shelter for humans once we go back to the Moon. The
NSF is looking at alternative structures to send out to field camps
in the Antarctic that are easy to transport, set up, and have high
tolerance to damage.

So as I walked away from the habitat, I glanced back at it. There was
no wind, very still and very cold with lots of light coming from a
nearly full Moon. It felt other-worldly indeed.

Where's The Gun?

For years, it's been a well-known fact that there are no
guns allowed on territory managed by the US Antarctic Program.
However, there is a persistent rumor that's been alive for
years that actually there is one gun and it's held by the
NSF Station Manager. The NSF Station Manager is deputized as
a US Marshall, and if there actually was a gun, it would be
their job to control it. I've worked under three different
NSF Station Managers in the Winter and all have said the
same thing...there is no gun. However, the rumors still
persist and one rumor is that there actually is a gun, but
it's held at Marble Point. Another rumor states that the
gun is at McMurdo, but the bullets are at Marble Point. Bill
told us the other day there there actually is no gun, but
only bullets and he needs to hit them on the ends with a hammer
to make them fire. He was kidding of course. However, Bill
went out to Marble Point this weekend via helicopter during
a tour of the Dry Valleys to see how this year's Extended
Season science was progressing. Was that really the reason he
went to the Dry Valleys and Marble Point??? If we see him
carrying a hammer around during the next few days, I think
we'll have our answer!

This story isn't anything but for fun...It shouldn't be taken
seriously by Art Bell or any other conspiracy theorist.

Great Panoramic Photo

Click on Photo to Enlarge

My NSF boss, Bill has discovered the joys of using
Photoshop on a Mac and created this really great
Panoramic Photo of McMurdo a few weeks ago on a
rare sunny evening. We're losing about 20 minutes
of daylight each day, so scenes like this (when it
isn't cloudy) will be few and far between soon.