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2007

Date: November 11, 2007
Location: McMurdo Station
Latitude: 77 degrees, 51 minutes South
Longitude: 166 degrees, 40 minutes East
Temperature: −6°C ( 21°F)
Wind Speed: 5 knots
Wind Chill: −10°C (14°F)
Elevation: 50 meters (164 feet)
Written by: Dan D.

Wow! what a lovely day! I had almost forgotten what a nice day in McMurdo was like... It is nice to see blue sky once again, it also bodes well for my flight tomorrow. If all goes well and the weather stays fine we should be fixed up and rolling by the end of the week.

 

Date: November 11, 2007
Location: ITASE Winter Over Site
Latitude: 80 degrees, 18 minutes South
Longitude: 144 degrees, 41 minutes East
Temperature: −27°C ( −17°F)
Wind Speed: 4 knots
Wind Chill: −34°C (−29°F)
Elevation: 2191 meters (7189 feet)
Kilometers Traveled: 0
Ice Core Drilled: 0 meters
Written by: Nicky

Sunday. In true McMurdo style we have brunch today, complete with a hot and cold spread.  Luci has done it again!  The day is mostly spent cleaning (showers and hair washing) and regenerating (reading, sleeping, watching movies).  In Luke's case a slow day means kite flying, so the banana sled is hooked up and away he goes.  The wind carries him quite far away, so on the first trip Luci and Kasey go out (with snacks) on the PB to pick him up.  On his second flight, I am recruited to be his chaser, so I get a little more practice driving the PB. 

Kasey installs the crevasse detector antenna boom on the front of the PB once recreation time is complete.  The boom is very long and it seems that driving with this out front will certainly require a little training and a lot of practice. Luke and Kasey perform preventative maintenance on the generator by changing the oil and filters. Brian lays out the cable for his radar sled.  Individual projects are worked on here and there, but mostly we relax.

 

Date: November 12, 2007
Location: ITASE Winter Over Site
Latitude: 80 degrees, 18 minutes South
Longitude: 144 degrees, 41 minutes East
Temperature: −38°C ( −36°F)
Wind Speed: 9 knots
Wind Chill: −52°C (−61°F)
Elevation: 2191 meters (7189 feet)
Kilometers Traveled: 0
Ice Core Drilled: 0 meters
Written by: Nicky

Today will be an exciting day.  We have two flights scheduled!  Will we get a generator?  Will we get a radiator?  The mystery is part of the fun!  Our first flight brings neither a radiator nor a generator, but it does bring Dan Dixon.  We're now one member closer to having our final traverse team all together.  The plane is unloaded (lots of cargo and 7 barrels of AN8*) and re-loaded (lots of retro cargo and one bunk generator manuvered into the tight space with ease by CAT- driver-extraordinaire Kasey Southard) quickly. Then the Kenn Borek Bassler flight crew is gone.  They return later in the day (the first time we've gotten both scheduled flights) and deliver 13 more barrels of AN8.  This alone makes the day a smashing success.

But that's not all we do.  Brian finishes the set up of his radar sled and after many hours of digging and lying in the snow even manages to install the skegs (little metal pieces that will hopefully provide traction when his sled is hung up on the top of a sastrugi).  Dan B., Gordon, and Paul work on getting the crevasse radar set up.  They've had a new sled built that will house the detector and protrude from the front of the boom, so it takes a little time to work out the kinks.  Luci, Elena, and I box dive for food and melt snow. Mike begins construction of the Eclipse drill. Luke and Luci perform hourly weather observations until the second flight touches down.  Kasey installs the PB radio (complete with iPOD attachment!) and gets the pieces and parts to the broken Challenger in order for Josh's anticipated arrival on Wednesday.  I use this as an opportunity to reacquaint myself with some of the CAT parts.  Anybody know what the thing on the back of the alternator is called?  It’s a rectifier.

After our work for the day is done we get inspired for the days to come by watching a movie of Shackelton tackling Antarctica.  Everybody needs inspiration right?

*AN8 is fuel for the vehicles.