Sunday in McMurdo

I had a relaxing Sunday in McMurdo. I slept in after a late night at the Freak Train Talent Show. I jumped roped in the show and had a great time at Galleger's, one of the bars. There are lots of interesting poeple here from all over.

Today I went to Discovery hut. A hut used by both Scott and Shakelton. It was built in 1902. It has Austrailian outback archecture, which was not very good for Antarctica. It was really cold in the hut, even back when th explorers were using it. Most poeple used it for shelter but would camp outside on ships if they could. After the hut tour, Joe and I went for a three mile hike. I posted some more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/lora.koenig/AntarcticaBlog


This will probably be my last post to this blog. We will be keeping the ITASE log up to date on a daily bases. Since I will be writing most of these check there for updates.

http://www2.umaine.edu/USITASE/logbooks/archives06/index.html

We will be leaving McMurdo for Taylor Dome on Tuesday, Nov 14

Pictures

The pictures for the blogs while I am in Antarctica will be posted here
http://picasaweb.google.com/lora.koenig/AntarcticaBlog

The Trip South

The Trip South

It takes a long time to get to Antarctica from Seattle. I left Seattle, with Joe, at 2:42 pm on October 30, 2006 and arrived Christchurch, New Zealand at 10:00 am on November 1, 2006. I am not really sure where October 31 went but it always sucks to lose a holiday. Joe wanted to bring a Halloween mask for the plane but decided the Federal Marshals and TSA may not find this amusing. I did eat some Halloween Peanut M & M’s on the flight, so I guess that was Halloween.

Speaking of the TSA, I flew for the first time with my less than 3 ounce bottles of fluids in my carry on. I figured this was a good idea since we would be in the air for multiple days. I was wrong. To start out, let it be known, I read the TSA website for traveling with fluids before hand. It says something like, “ less than 3 ounce bottles of fluid in a clear Ziplock bag…” I did not read carefully enough though because it said in a one quart ziplock bag. I had put my fluids in a gallon ziplock bag. Seatlle TSA sent me happily on my way through the security checkpoint. When I got to LAX, the most confusing and unmarked airport I have ever experienced, I went through the security line. As soon as my bag came out of the x-ray machine it was confiscated and I was pulled aside. My gallon ziplock bag with fluids was the offensive item. So offensive, in fact, that I had to be escorted out of security. I went to the store and purchased a 1 quart bag, put the fluids in the bag, stuffed the gallon bag in the quart bag and then cleared security. What if I would have had a liter ziplock bag?

The flight to Auckland was nice. I was sitting next to a man who’s son was a steward for Quantas, so we got all the business class stuff, nice headphone, toiletry kit, and lots of special food. I slept fairly well on the flight and was not super tired when we arrived Christchurch.

We walked around Christchurch for the afternoon. We at this point was Joe, another UW grad student, Andre, a driller, Brian, a radar guy, and I. We walked through the bueatiful botanical gardens and went to the Canterbury Museum where I got to sit on a really cool bike.

Our second day in Christchurch was clothing issue day. We went to the International Antarctic Center and received out ECW, extreme cold weather, gear. The boys went in one room and the girls in another. We each got two bags with lots of cloths in them. You try them all on and make sure they fit. Then you repack one bag for a carry on with all the gear need to keep you safe if the plane goes down. The other gear is checked through. The most fun gear is the big red parka and a onzie fleece unitard. Hopefully you will all get to see the unitard soon because Joe and I are going to coriograph a little ballet routine just for these outfits. Hopefully we can upload the video. We will make sure Terry Hughes is the lead ballerina. Oh and Joe is already writing the script to turn our adventure into a reality TV show.

So back to the trip south. On November 3, 2006 at 9:00 am we took off from Chrischurch in a C17. It is a huge plane with plenty of leg room. We had a very nice flight and arrived McMurdo Station to a cloudless day with mountains out all around. At 2:41 pm on Nov 3, 2006 I finally set foot on my 7th continent. I was pretty excited about that.

We immediately loaded Ivan the Terra Bus to take us on the 5 minute drive to McMurdo City Center. Shuttle Bill the driver and tour guide accidently hit on me. Here is the converstation,
Shuttle Bill, "Are you Single, here?"
Lora, "Umm, I am married I think that applies here as well."
SB, "No I mean did your husband come with you or are you single"
Laghter from all other Ivan bus riders who realize the ackwardness of the situation while lora considers how to answer the question, "ummmm, My husband is not here but I am not single."
SB, "Oh then you will probably be staying in that dorm"
Ivan riders bust into histarical laughter along with Lora, Shuttle bill turns bright red and mentions that he did infact watch the sexual harasment video in Denver.

McMurdo is much nicer than expected. The buildings are really nice and well done in the inside. I expected a much rough place on the eyes. McMurdo has everything you need. A post office, store with good stuff, video rental, gym, clubs, coffee shop and even an activities center. I feel like I am back in undergraduate school living in the dorms. I wish I had more time to participate in all the activities.

Today we started to sort out all of our gear for the traverse. I am very excited because al my boxes arrived with everything intact. The weather is good today, though overcast. The temperature in the day is around 5 Fahrenheit. The food is good, too. That’s all for now. I will probably post again before leaving McMurdo next week. As I will be writing an entry for the ITASE site so check it out if you want to know more about the people I am with and the work we are doing. Lora:-)

Off To Antarctica

Cold Lora
I will be leaving for Antarctica on October 30th for the US ITASE Traverse from Taylor Dome towards the South Pole. We should make it about half way. Click here for the ITASE Traverse Route to see where I am. We will be posting updates to the US ITASE logbook website at http://www2.umaine.edu/USITASE/logbooks/index.html
Check there for updates on my trip.

One Last Trip to the Ice

Today I took one last science trip to the ice. Chris Shuman was headed to Camp Raven to take one last snow sample. He asked me to go along and help. It was supposed to be another turn around flight where we would get off a plane and get back on about a half hour later.


We were scheduled to leave at 10:00 but the plane was holding for better weather. We sat on the tarmack for awhile and finally took off. We landed at Raven. Raven is the camp where the 109th Air guard trains. There are two Veco staff there that groom the runway.


Our plane landed and we got off to take the samples. The plane was supposed to take off and land again. The plane took off but it did not land again. Instead it went back to Kanger with a broken radar. We were left to be picked up by a second plane schedule to land and do some maneuvers about a half hour later. This was great because we got to see Camp Raven.



I think Raven was my favorite camp. It is very simple, two weather port, a sauna and an emergency shelter. It is staffed by Lou and Mark who are married. It felt like walking into a little cabin on the Ice Sheet. We were given tea and soup for lunch.

Raven also is the site of the Dye-2 Structure. This is a huge building built by the military as part of the Detection and Early Warning system. It was designed in the late 1950’s early 60’s to detect missiles that may be headed towards the US. It was abandoned over night in the early 1990’s. We did not go in the building but it was huge from the outside. Before it was drifted in it would have been about 60 to 80 feet above the ice. I believe there were 5 more of these sites in a transect across Greenland.





We signed the Raven guest book. There is a guest book at Raven because it is on the route that most people take when traversing Greenland by skies. Mark and Lou told us briefly about all the interesting people that pass by.

On the ride home we flew first class again. This time we got to see a few Musk Ox out the plane window. I love flying with the 109th. Definitely the best flights of my life.







In the afternoon, Meredith and I went for a final trip around Kanger. We road bikes up to Lake Fergeson. It was 6 km round trip and a nice afternoon outing with only a few mosquitoes. We are going to make dinner tonight and go to bed early for the flight south (this means to NY) tomorrow.

The Ice Edge

Well our flight that was supposed to leave today only took hazardous material and no passengers. This means that we will be in Kanger until the 14th. We made the best of the day by driving the dirt road about 25 miles up to the edge of the Ice Sheet. It was amazing. Here are a few of the shots I took.

The Flight Out

I want to be a pilot. I just had the best flight of my entire life. By Kathy’s request Jake and I got sent out of Summit first Class. This means I flew out in the cockpit of the C-130. The cockpit is a much better seat than the cargo net seats in the back. First there was take off. We didn’t fire the Jato, so we ended up going up and down the skiway 4 times before we actually got off the ground. This was really fun from me because I could see all my favorite ski trails and runway flags that I would try to ski to one last time. Once we got off the ground there was a good view of summit from the sky. Then there was white ice sheet for a long time. Pretty boring really.





When we got close to the ice edge you could see the lakes starting to from. Then the ice edge, land, dirt and lakes. I was taking a few pictures when the pilot pulled me up to the window beside him and told me to hang on to a handle above my head. At this point he started flying the plane down one of the canyons leading to Kanger. He would tilt the plane to the side for every lake so I could get a good view. We flew down the fjord and circle down to the runway. I was still standing at the window when the plane said 300 feet. At this point I was instructed to buckle up for landing. Next thing I knew we were on the ground. It was amazing. I don’t think the FAA would allow this type of first class flying in the US. I have posted a few pic of my ride.









Before my flight our I did my last bit of science. Chris Shuman and come in on the flight for a turn around. Turn around means he came and went on the same flight. So we did some speed science. In the hour and a half that the plane was on the ground loading pallets and dumping fuel, we took the electric ski doo out and took 9 firn cores and some snow samples. We quickly boxed these into ice care boxes and got back to the flight. We were given 1:30 and we finished in 1:13. This gave me a chance to say some quick goodbye’s and hello’s to Joe and Mike who cam in to replace us. I had a great time and Summit, the five star resort of field camps.

I am now in Kanger relaxing a bit and waiting to hear about flights back to the US. I looks like we may have an afternoon flight so I may have to stay in Albany a night.

Last Day in Camp

June 9th was my last day in camp. It was a pretty relaxing day. I slept in this morning and came to the big house for breakfast. I helped the House Mouse by vacuuming the big house. I House Moused on Wednesday. House mousing entails helping with cleaning, doing the dishes and helping the cooks. I really enjoyed this because I get to be indoors all day with warm hands.

After lunch Jeff and Katie, the Science Techs, let me help with a balloon launch. The balloon launch is for NOAA. The balloon carries a radiosond and an ozonesond. It measures wind speeds and the amount of ozone in the air. They use this to monitor ozon over Greenland. Jeff and Katie filled the balloon with helium in the mechanics garage and then they let me launch the balloon. It was very fun.

DISC drill tent

This afternoon I went over to check out the DISC Drill in operation. It was super cool. The Disc drill will drill the next deep ice core in West Antarctica. It is being tested right now at summit. The drill is a new drill and I got a personal tour of the drill by one of the drills designers and engineers Jay.



This drill will be able to drill to bed rock in West Antarctica. It can pull up 4 meters of core at a time. The wench can run a 3 m/s which is really fast. This drill is innovative because it does not have separate inside core barrel. The chips of snow that are created from drilling in the ice are caught in screens inside the same barrel that collects the ice core. The drill head has 4 bits instead of three.

The operation works like this. The drill tower and core barrel starts perpendicular to the snow and the core barrel starts drilling into the ice. Once it has drilled the core the wench pulls the core barrel up. Once the core barrel is in the drill tower, the tower rotates down so it is parallel to the snow. The core barrel is then picked up by a crane that spins the barrel around and moves it to the receiving area. The receiving area is the red part of the tent. This is where they will label, partially analyze and package the core. When the core barrel is moved next to the receiving area the core is pushed out onto the tray. This is all happening because there are guys in the computer room running the drill. I got to watch while they pulled a 2.8 meter core up from 140 meters deep in the ice.








I especially like the wench. The cable that they brought to Summit is only 1500 meters long. The one they will take to Antarctica is 3600 meters long. I forget how many tons it weighs but it takes one Herc flight to take just the cable. The drill is quite neat because it was built in pieces all of which come apart and fit perfectly onto Herc pallets. Because the DISC drill is in test mode the ice cores are not being used for science. The cores are starting to pile up outside the tent. It was nice to be able to play with some of the ice core and not have to worry about damaging them for science.