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Date: 01/05/04
Latitude: 81.65 degrees South
Longitude: 122.60 degrees East
Temperature:−21°C(−6°F)
Wind speed: 11 knots
Wind Chill:−32°C(−25°F)
Wind direction: not given
Elevation: 9,722 feet
Kilometers traveled: 1510

Notes on daily life:
By Dan

This morning we prepared for the arrival of our first Herc. Matt was up at 02:00 reporting the weather conditions back to McMurdo. Weather observations must be reported every hour, on the hour for at least six hours prior to off–deck. The reports also have to continue during the flight until the plane lands. If you don’t report, the plane will not come! While in the field, weather reports have to be transmitted three times a day even if there are no flights.

Our Herc arrived at around 11:00 and delivered to us our latest passenger: Audrey Huerta. Audrey is from Pennsylvania State University and works alongside Tim on the TAMSEIS project. She will be taking over seismic station removal where he left off. The plane also dropped off two full pallets of fuel drums and some personal mail and gifts for crewmembers. After loading four retro pallets, weighing 10,000 lbs, onto the Herc it taxied out onto the skiway. The pilot had already notified us that he was going to fire off the JATO booster rockets so we all lined up at the four thousand foot point of the skiway with our cameras and waited for take–off. The Herc began its take–off run and at first it seemed like a normal run on engines alone. As the plane approached the stretch of runway in line with our position the pilot lit up the JATO. There was a massive flash accompanied by an enormous cloud of smoke and then the unmistakable roar as the JATO rockets came to life. It was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen; as soon as the rockets fired, the front ski of the Herc was immediately lifted off the ground. Now try to imagine 135,000 pounds of screaming metal accelerating to over 100mph in the space of 10 seconds the only place for it to go is up!

Before the JATO smoke had even had a chance to clear the skiway, a Kenn Borek Twin Otter had landed and was approaching our refueling station. The Otter was on its way to Megadunes and needed a quick refill. The pilots were bummed they missed the JATO takeoff. After the Twin Otter had taken off (in a slightly less spectacular style!) we spent the rest of the day getting the trains ready for travel.

Date: 01/06/04
Latitude: 81.65 degrees South
Longitude: 122.60 degrees East
Temperature:−17°C( 1°F)
Wind speed: 7 knots
Wind Chill:−25°C(−12°F)
Wind direction: not given
Elevation: 9,722 feet
Kilometers traveled: 1510

Notes on daily life:
By Dan

We have been very fortunate to have had amazingly beautiful weather since we arrived back at TAMCAMP. Our second Herc had no trouble flying in and dropping off more fuel. After we had loaded it up with the last four retro pallets it took off using its JATO booster rockets. It was just as spectacular as yesterday’s takeoff and our whole crew lined up again with cameras to take more pictures and movies.

We all spent the rest of the day cleaning up camp, caching the fuel drums and preparing the trains ready to leave in the morning. Lynn and James changed the oil in both CATs so we should be good to go on our final leg to Taylor Dome in the morning.

I took advantage of the exceptionally good weather to have one last shower probably the last one before reaching McMurdo. It felt really good, despite the ambient temperature of−17°C.