Miscellanea

Barring more weather delays, I'm headed to the continent itself today to do the network install at one of the deep field camps.  Originally, we were supposed to leave on Thanksgiving Day, but the weather that moved in, along with the two days of no air operations, delayed us through the weekend.  Not does this trip mean I am finally getting to the continent, it also means I will be able to say I have walked off a LC-130 rather than going out the back with a parachute.

I have a series of posts written that should automatically post while I'm gone.  So far, topics are coming from things I do/see that I think people will be interested in, or from questions I have received.  If there is something you would like to see a post about, or pictures of, throw it in the comments and I'll put together a detailed post.  If it doesn't generate enough information for a full post, I'll start a Q&A section on the blog.

Finally, here are some more random pictures I have taken over my time here that I think people will find interesting.

To freezing, and beyond!  The high for November 14th was reported as 34F.  It's the first an only time I've seen it go above freezing since arriving.

The Hut Point ridge line as it runs North.  I need to get back out and take an updated picture to show how much of the snow is now gone.

Mt. Erebus as seen from the sea ice runway.  The shorter peak in the middle is Crater Hill and the smaller peak on the left is Observation Hill.

A couple of the Recreation folks getting the Frisbee Golf equipment out of the snow.  Yes, that is a mountain bike in the picture; one of the many they have down here for people to use later in the season.  The large blue building is 155 and the small building in front is Southern Exposure, one of the three bars at McMurdo.

The two pictures above show the difference three weeks of warm temperatures (15-25F) and constant sun can make on the snow.  Since the second picture was taken, a storm blew through and made it look more like the first, though we're back in a melting period right now.  According to the people who have been here before, it'll be off and on muddy until sometime in December when everything dies out and gets dusty.

Part of the Royal Society Range, taken from the sea ice runway after a storm blew through, but before all the clouds cleared out.

Black Island, taken from just past Pegasus runway.

White Island, also taken from just past Pegasus runway.

Ross Island, also taken from just past Pegasus runway.  The top of Mount Erebus can be seen just above the cloud cover.  Hut Point is the darker ridge line in the shadows in the center of the picture, Observation Hill opposite it on the right.  McMurdo is nestled between the two and not visible.  The peak in between Hut Point and Ob Hill is Castle Rock.  There is a 7+ mile hiking loop that goes out to Castle Rock, on to the Ross Ice Shelf, past Scott Base, and back to McMurdo.  Once the mountaineers check the climbing rope and allow people to climb to the top of Castle Rock I intend to go out and get some pictures from there.

Pegasus sits about 14 miles out from McMurdo on the Ross Ice Shelf.  In the bottom half of the picture is an area of blue ice where the wind has cleared all the snow off the ice shelf.

One of the options for getting from Building 155 to the Crary science building and other buildings in that area.  The building shown in the background is Building 189, also known as the JSOC (Joint Spacecraft Operations Center) or "the NASA building", where I work.  NASA has the entire first floor and the Network Operations Center is on the second floor, accessible via the stairs shown

Like every good bridge, it has it's own troll to guard it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from McMurdo!

Other than people saying "Happy Thanksgiving!" to each other yesterday, it was just another work day for us.  We will officially observe the holiday on Saturday the 26th (Friday in the US) with a day off and a special dinner put together by the chow hall staff.  Some weather moved in a couple days ago and shut down air operations right before the weekly resupply of fresh fruits and vegetables was to arrive, so it'll be interesting to see what kind of meal they put together.  Since the chow hall can't seat everybody at once, the meal is being served in 2 hour shifts (3, 5, 7, and 9pm) and people had to sign up for a seating or for a particular time to pick up a take out plate.

Have a safe holiday!

Veteran's Day

Each year, McMurdo Station and Scott Base celebrate Veteran's Day together, with the site alternating between the two.  Scott Base hosted the celebration this year and a shuttle was run from McMurdo for those able to attend.  Despite being out of the Army for almost 7 years now, this was the first time I actually attended a Veteran's Day celebration.  Attendees consisted of New Zealand Defense Forces personnel, US Air Force and Army National Guard personnel, high ranking management from both stations, and the US veterans that were able to take the morning off to attend.

The ceremony lasted a little over an hour and was simple, yet respectful.  First, we gathered outside by the flag pole where both flags were lowered to half staff, a moment of science was observed, and an invocation given.

(The yellow sign seen between the Kiwi soldiers gives the distance from Scott Base to various major cities around the world (in kilometers of course).  I have a close up picture of it I plan to include in a later post about Scott Base.)

After the invocation, we moved indoors for the remainder of the ceremony.  After posting the colors, the Kiwis sang their national anthem, the American's sang ours, and speeches were given by both Kiwi and American personnel.  Sadly, I found the American's participation to be a bit embarrassing. The Kiwi speeches sounded prepared and rehearsed, and it sounded at though some effort had been made to view the day as a joint celebration, despite differences in name and typical observation style.  On the other hand, the American speeches sounded hastily prepare and geared toward the American audience, with just enough mention of New Zealand to acknowledge that we were guests at a New Zealand facility.

After the speeches, a short POW/MIA Remembrance ceremony was held.  It was a very powerful ceremony, with the two soldiers taking turns setting objects on the table as two narrators (one Kiwi, one American) took turns telling the audience what they symbolized.

For those not familiar with the ceremony, here is a sample script that I found online. Upon returning to McMurdo, I discovered that one of the tables in the chow hall had also been set up to remember.  The the kitchen staff's credit, it is still set, 4 days later.

Setting the table concluded the ceremony for the day and we were invited to join the Kiwi's for lunch.  Unfortunately, I turned the offer down and returned to McMurdo to discover that after breakfast that morning, the dish washer broke down and lunch was a salad bar on paper plates with plastic silverware.  Be careful offering me food when I get back, I've learned my lesson about declining a meal!

Happy Camper

For those of you waiting for what you feel is the last necessary piece of evidence to have me committed, allow me to present Snowcraft I, or, as it is more affectionately known, Happy Camper.

It's a beautiful, November 4th in the McMurdo area.

It's somewhere around 12F (-11C), there's a light breeze, and the forecast doesn't show anything to be concerned about.  What are people to do?

We could learn how to set up tents and build a snow wall to protect ourselves if we ever get stranded in a storm and must wait to be picked up.

We could also learn how to dig snow trenches (or snow tombs) as an alternative to tents.

So we've done all this, but it's getting late, about 8-9 o'clock; it's been a long day.  Time to head back to McMurdo, grab some food, and call it a night, right?   Yes to food and calling it a night, however, those tents and trenches are our accommodations for the night.

I took the above picture after I finished capping my snow trench and was situated in my sleeping bag.

In order to leave McMurdo for field sites or morale trips via helicopter or plane, you must complete Happy Camper (or a refresher course if you've done Happy Camper in a previous year).  It's a two day, one night course that goes over the basics of snow camping, survival, and communications.  After spending a couple hours in a classroom at McMurdo, we moved out onto the Ross Ice Shelf and alternated between some indoor classroom training and outdoor training/application.  By late on Day 1 we had covered the best ways to set up a camp in Antarctica, how to set up various tents (Scott tents and two types of mountain tents), how to dig a snow trench, and how to dig a kitchen.  After getting us started on everything, the instructors told us what time the next morning we had to have camp torn down by and left us for the warm building they got to sleep in.  From there on, it was up to us to finish camp, cook dinner, and get some sleep.

Where and how we slept was completely up to us, though we did have to set up enough tents for everybody, in case people abandoned their trenches in the middle of the night.  By the time everybody called it a night, we had two Scott tents, 7 mountain tents, and 6 snow trenches (half of which were abandoned by morning), and a pretty good sized snow wall built.

I decided to give the trench a try because I expect that when I get out to a field camp they won't let me dig one (if I even have the time) so I'd better get the experience in now.  Over all it worked out pretty well.  In addition to the insulated pads they gave us, I had some extra cold weather gear that I used as extra insulation between my sleeping bag and the snow and stayed pretty warm throughout the night.  The only reason I didn't sleep better was I slept on my side and didn't have enough padding to keep my shoulders from getting sore.  So every so often I'd wake up with a sore shoulder and have to roll over to my other side.  

The other big issue with the trench was noise from people walking about.  When you walk on the snow pack here, it sounds like styrofoam and that sound really travels.  When you're in the trench, you hear people moving all around, but have no idea how close they are to you.  It can be quite unnerving, and when you hear somebody getting close you hope they're paying attention to the flags and don't walk over the top of the trench and possibly breaking through the cap.  I took the video below from my sleeping bag right before I called it a night.  At the very end, you can hear somebody walking around.

The concept of the snow trench is pretty simple: dig a waist wide trench deep enough so you can sit up comfortable without hitting your head on the cap (though one thing I learned was once you think you're deep enough, going another 6-8 inches never hurts), then start expanding out under the snow so you have room to lay out your sleeping bag with 6-8 inches of clearance on either side.  Dig a cold sump at one end, cap the entire trench, and you're done.  If you're going to be staying for awhile, your options for expansion are limited only by your imagination and effort.

Unbeknownst to me until we got back and everybody was sharing their picture, after I closed myself in, Blaise, one of the Systems Administrators that I work with in the NOC, came by and let everybody know where I could be found.

The trench actually continues under the piled snow you see at the top of the picture.  Once I capped most of the trench, I piled snow around and on top of the cap blocks to seal it from wind and blowing snow.  The last two pieces were not sealed so I had an entrance and a place for fresh air to circulate.  I did sleep with a shovel, just in case.

When you gotta go...

The sign says: "Sitting Only!!! We don't care how good your aim is.  Practice elsewhere!"  These were pretty easy to use during the day when you're out moving around (and relatively warm with the sun shining down on them 24 hours a day).  But what about in the middle of the night?  Well, two choices.  The first is to get out of your warm sleeping bag, get all your ECW gear on, and walk the 150-200 meters from camp to the outhouses.  Option 2 is to use a pee bottle in your sleeping bag, hoping that you don't miss and you don't confuse it with your water bottle.  I actually went with the discouraged 3rd option which was to dehydrate myself to the point where I didn't need to go in the middle of the night.

A previous class took the time to build and igloo.  We were told they are great options for long term living, but take a lot of time to build properly.

The morning of the 5th, I was one of the first ones up, so after I finished filling my trench back in and getting my gear over to the pick up point, I hopped into the kitchen and helped melt snow for breakfast and hot drinks.

Later in the day, after a scenario, we had some extra snow blocks cut, so we took the opportunity to relax a little bit.

Sadly, Darth Maul missed transport for this excursion.