"So Long And Thanks For All The Fish"

It took most of the season, but I finally got my picture taken by the welcome sign.

Barring weather delays, I'm northbound on February 1st.  Being down here has been an interesting experience with plenty of unique challenges and opportunities.  While I didn't accomplish everything I set out to do while I was here, I accomplished more than enough to feel that overall, the experience was worth it.

I'm sure most people want to know if I will come back.  I can see myself coming back someday, but the most likely scenario is as a tourist or with a science group.  To come back to work would require I come down as something other than a Network Engineer or would require a major change in the role and responsibilities of a Network Engineer on ice.

For those who think they would like to come down here, I would highly recommend it.  McMurdo functions like a small town in the US and just about any kind of job you find in your local community can be found down here.  If coming down to work, I would highly recommend only coming for a summer season your first year in case you discover it's not a good fit for you.  If you get down here and discover you love it, that's great!  But, ignore the winter over recruiting, finish the season, return to the US, and then think about wintering over.  A lot that goes on every season and everybody who comes down for the first time does so wearing blinders to a certain degree.


As my time at McMurdo comes to a end, so too does the blog's Antarctica focus.  While I have many more pictures and experiences I could write about, I'll save it for face to face conversations.  There should also be a little bit of mystery for those who may be interested in coming down here themselves!  I want to thank everybody who has followed the blog these past few months and I hope you have enjoyed it.

Going forward, I intend on taking this blog in a more technical direction with posts related my experiences as a Network Engineer and my views on the IT industry.  You are more than welcome to continue following, though I understand if the material becomes uninteresting and you stop following.  Posting will be less frequent as demands if "the real world" reassert themselves so for those still interested in following, I would recommend using an RSS reader if you are not already doing so.

We'll end with one last picture of our intrepid adventurers out at the Pegasus crash site.  The Pegasus was a US Navy C-121 that crash on the Ross Ice Shelf in 1970 and is where Pegasus Field get's its name.

Observation Hill

Another hiking option in the Mcmurdo area is Observation Hill, or Ob Hill as it's commonly known.  At around 750 feet tall, it's a pretty good climb, doesn't take too long, and gives a great view of the area on clear days.

A view of the old nuclear reactor site from about half way up.  The Navy ran the reactor for most of the 1960s and decommissioned it in the early 1970s.

McMurdo from about half way up to the top.

The cross and plaque shown above were erected in memory of Captain Robert F. Scott and his party that perished on their return from the South Pole.

  

From the summit looking out towards ice shelf and the area where Happy Camper and the Long Duration Balloon Facility are located.  The Kiwi wind turbines can be seen off the the left.

Some of the rock at the summit.  White Island can just be seen to the left.

McMurdo from the summit.

The sea ice runway as seen from the summit with Black Island in the background.

For those playing "Where's Darth Maul", he appeared once in this post.

Recycling

Recycling and waste management are are big deal down here.  To preserve the environment and comply with various laws and treaties, waste is collected and shipped back to the United States for processing and recycling.  Each year, McMurdo and South Pole generate over 300 shipping containers worth of waste, with approximately 65% of it getting recycled.

To make things easier on the waste department, the community helps out by presorting trashing into marked bins located throughout each building.  In dorm rooms and offices where a single trash can is used due to space constraints, it's the occupant(s) responsibility to empty and sort the trash into the bins located at the collection areas.

Each bin is labeled with what type of trash it contains along with common items that should and should not be placed in them.  Typically, there is also a large matrix posted in the area that has a more comprehensive list of items and what trash bin they go in.  

For the most part, it's pretty straight forward, though there is some subjectivity.  Depending on what you consider a "mostly clean wrapper", a butter or jam container may end up in either Food Waste or Paper Towels.  Also, not all the bins are consistently labeled.  At the field camps it's common to see bins labeled Baleable Non-R instead of Paper Towels.

From the indoor collection stations, the janitorial staff is responsible for getting the trash outside to the appropriate tri-walls located around station.  When full, the tri-walls are closed up, moved to the waste yard, and stored until they are shipped north via the cargo vessel.  Empty shipping containers are brought down filled, and returned to the vessel before it leaves.  Due to various logistical issues the past two years, they have not able to get all the waste sent north on the vessel and it's starting to pile up.

The most common bins are: Light Metal, Heavy Metal, Wood, Clothing, Aluminum, Glass, Paper Towels, Plastic, Mixed Paper, Food Waste, Cardboard, Non-Recyclable, and Sanitary Waste.

There are also a handful of specialty bins located around the station to collect specific things people brought with them.

Currently located across from the Science Cargo building.

Currently located by a couple of the dorms.

Currently located by the Fuels Barn.

Currently located outside of Southern Exposure, one of the bars.

Currently located outside Medical.

Currently located across from the Firehouse.

Currently located outside the Carpenter's Shop.

I also saw a bin labeled "Romance Novels", however by the time I returned a couple hours later to take a picture, it had been moved and I have not seen it since.

No, nothing is sacred.

... and Automobiles

And finally, wheeled vehicles.

For most people, the primary means of moving around is the "red fleet" of Ford trucks and vans.  The trucks are primarily assigned to work centers that routinely need a vehicle to complete their work and the vans are primarily assigned to the Shuttles work center and are available on demand for work centers that do not have a vehicle assigned to them.  Shuttles also provides regular service to the runway for flight crews and shift changes.

As you can see, the suspension has been raised and heavy duty snow tires have been added to handle the snow and ice roads.  The vehicles are always operated in 4 wheel drive, even in town.  Speed limits vary from 25 MPH on the snow roads down to 5 MPH around the dorms or when people on foot are present.  The speed restrictions are in place for safety, to minimize damage to the snow and ice roads, and to minimize damage to the vehicles.

The infamous Ivan The Terra Bus.  While slow, it can carry a lot of people and the large Chevron tiers are able to handle the snow and ice roads much better than the smaller tires on the trucks and vans.  Ivan is primarily used to shuttle people back and forth from the runway when large groups of people arrive or depart.  Ivan was also how we were transported to Scott Base for the Veteran's Day service.

A Foremost Delta built to carry passengers.  Like Ivan, the Deltas get a lot of use transporting people to and from the airfields.  However their capacity is much smaller, 20-25 people depending on how much gear everybody has, so they also see use in taking groups out to Happy Camper and some of the other recreational trips in the McMurdo area.  There is another Delta configuration that has a flatbed in place of the passenger compartment and is used for hauling cargo.

A standard Caterpillar Road Grader with snow chains.  Early in the season, they make passes around McMurdo to rough up the packed snow and ice on the roads and provide traction.  As the snow melts, they continue to work the roads as damage from water runoff and erosion starts to appear.

Another Caterpillar vehicle (I'm not sure what model), with a heavy duty snow thrower on the front.  Pretty self explanatory.

Like everybody else, the NSF is trying to go green and one of the ways is by experimenting with the electric car above.  The only one on station, it can be reserved for errands that don't warrant the size or capacity of a van.  Considering that most of the electricity for McMurdo and Scott Base comes from two diesel generators at McMurdo, the "sustainability" and "environmental friendly" still has a kink or two to be worked out.  A few years ago, the Kiwis installed 3 wind turbines that can almost replace one of the diesel generators at peak output.  But, despite efforts to reduce power consumption, summer power draw still requires both diesel generators run, even when the wind turbines are spinning.  During the winter, when power needs are much lower, one diesel generator can be put in standby thanks to the wind turbines.

...Trains,...

Sorry, no actual trains, but plenty of vehicles with tracks.

First up in the tracked section is the Piston Bully.  Primarily used by the science groups, these vehicles are used for getting around the area surrounding McMurdo where there are no groomed roads for wheeled vehicles to use.  While slow on dirt and ice, once the tracks get out on the soft snow they can really fly, though o real suspension to speak of.  There is some IT and coomunications equipment at the top of Crater Hill and the incline is so steep you can only take a Piston Bully or walk up the path.

A Hagglunds Bv206, also used primarily by the science groups when more cargo capacity than a Piston Bully is needed.

A Caterpillar bulldozer.  It's use should be self explanatory.

One of the Fire Department's runway trucks on Mattracks.

A Tucker Sno Cat out at Byrd.  There were a few of these out at Byrd used primarily for grooming the snow around camp.  A couple ended up as part of the PIG traverse when two of the traverse Challengers broke down.

A Caterpillar Challenger.  Though primarily used for the South Pole and PIG traverses, they end up seeing use out at the runways (both at McMurdo and field camps) for grooming.

A Case IH Steiger.  Like the Challenger, it is primarily used for the South Pole traverse.  Interesting trivia bit: at the time of writing, the image on the Wikipedia page for the Case STX Steiger was taken at McMurdo.

For those keeping track, no John Deere equipment to be found.  It must not be robust enough for the environment. :)

Finally, though not an official vehicle, this cross between a snow machine and motorcycle was a winter over project from previous years.

Not pictured are the assortment of snow machines used primarily by science groups and field camps for short trips that don't require the capacity afforded by a Piston Bully or moving light cargo.  In some cases, sciences groups will do short, multiday expeditions on them.