Race around the world

At the pole, every Christmas we have a "Race around the World"- since here we can literally walk through all time zones.  It was 2.3 miles, and I walked part of it, ran part of it.  We had pretty crummy weather on Christmas eve here.  The winds were blowing a good 20+, and it was something below 0.  This is me walking... It was a whiteout kind of day..

2 Hercs on the ground!

Yesterday we had 2 L-C130's on the ground at once.

Christmas Carols

On Christmas Day, I participated in a long standing tradition.  Before the days of iridium and regular telephones, those stationed in Antarctica communicated using the HF radio.  We still have and use the HF radio in comms, but in addition to other means of communication.

On Christmas day, all of the field camps, as well as McMurdo station, get together at a designated time and take turns singing carols over the HF radio.  It was a memory from here I'll never forget.  It was especially magical this year, because the Norwegian tourists (some of those who skied to the Pole, and are now camping outside our station) came in to join us.  They sang 2 Christmas carols in their native language.

It made Christmas day for me!

The Norwegians, singing...

And, another first!

For the first time, we had a Catholic Priest at South Pole Station for Christmas.  Fr. Rossetti has been great to have here!

His story:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/23/my-faith-an-unexpected-christmas-at-south-pole/

And the highest temperature today!

A record set at South Pole Station, Antarctica

Weather for South Pole Station Today is Sunday, December 25th 3:03pm Temperature-12.6 °C 9.3 °F Windchill -18.4 °C -1.2 °F Wind 5.6 kts Grid 216 Barometer 690.0 mb (10,253 ft)

Ice Tunnels

Here at the South Pole, all of our electrical wiring and water pipes are housed below the surface, in "ice tunnels".  They are 60-80 feet below the surface.  It's a constant -60C/-50F in these tunnels.  I had an opportunity to take a walk in these tunnels.  I lasted about 35 minutes!

Looking up the escape hatch

Top is water into the station; Bottom is waste flowing out of the station

Many items are left in the tunnels

-50C inside

More of the same; Below the 2 large tubes, there are smaller tubes of electrical wiring; The tube sticking out on the right allows plumbers to check the "flow" inside the tubes (to make sure nothing is frozen)

Me, after 30 or so minutes; I have ice crystals on my eyelashes

My exciting week!

This week has been a very big week here at the South Pole.  On Wednesday we celebrated the 100 year anniversary of Norway’s Ronald Amundsen’s finding of the South Pole.  We had nearly 100 tourists ski, drive, and fly all across Antarctica the pole to be part of the celebrations.  The tourists camped about 1/2 mile away from our station, as they are not allowed into our building.  We set up a visitors tent (that was warm!) for them!  

I met, and hung out with Norway’s Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg.   He and his entourage were here 3 days.

And we had a group photo with him at the pole.  This is nearly all 200 of us who live and work at the pole this summer.  It’s a pretty big deal to get your picture on the walls at the  south pole station.  I’m happy to say, I will have checked this box.  I’m in the front row, kneeling, near the center, in blue ski pants, white fleece, and red jacket.  I’m just to the left of a a firefighter in uniform.  

Last night I met up with Borge Ousland, an adventurist.  He skied along Amundsen’s route to the pole, unsupported a few days ago.  He was really inspiring.  

We watched a movie “Patagonia, A Travel to the End of the World”.  It was about Borge and a friend, Thomas Ulrich who climbed over the ice cap between Argentina and Chile.  They were the first to do it unsupported, and it took them 55 days.  I don’t have great internet down here, but if you can find it online, definitely watch!!!

Borge's website and blog: 

http://www.ousland.no/

And, at some point during the week, I felt I needed a hero shot.  It was -27F outside!

Skua Sighting!

Skuas: a group of seabirds with about seven species forming the family Stercorariidae and the genus Stercorarius. The three smaller skuas are called jaegers in North America. The English word "skua" comes from the Faroese name skúgvur for the Great Skua, with the island of Skúvoy renowned for its colony of that bird. The general Faroese term for skuas is kjógvi. The word "jaeger" is derived from the German word Jäger, meaning "hunter". Skuas nest on the ground in temperate and Arctic regions, and are long-distance migrants. They have even been sighted at the South Pole.

So, as you can imagine at the pole we have no wildlife of any kind… usually.  BUT!  Today, we had a lonesome skua flying around.  An announcement was made and most of the station came to take a look!  It’s a big deal at the pole!  We can assume he flew in with the traverse or with the tourists who skied in this past week.  At any rate, the decision for the bird to come to the pole was a fatal one.  We have nothing for him to eat or warm place for him to hide.  And, he has no other friends here, he came solo.  Poor bird……

Sorry I haven’t posted much this week- my scheduled has changed and I am either sleeping or working when the satellites pass overhead, and the internet is up.  The Prime Minister of Norway did come, as well as nearly 100 tourists (who are here camping outside)!  I will post pictures and tell all about it soon!!

The Dark Sector

On Tuesday, I went to the Dark Sector.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, we have different areas or "sectors" around the main station building.  The dark sector houses all of our telescopes.  The scientists here are studying what the universe was like after the big bang.  They are using microwaves to see the light at a point in space where it is no longer reflecting off other objects- I forget the number, but it was something like 180 million light years away.  (It's hard to wrap your brain around!)  By studying this light, and it's heat, they can tell what the universe was like in the very beginning.

Since it is summer here, none of our telescopes are actually looking at anything- all the scientists are working on the telescopes.  We should have some telescopes up and running within a few weeks, and I'll be back!!  I was able to climb up in the space where the telescopes would normally be housed.

Martin A Pomerantz Oberservatory (MAPO); first 4 pictures
astro.uchicago.edu/cara/vtour/pole/darksector/mapo/


South Pole Telescope link (SPT); last 2 pictures
http://pole.uchicago.edu/

This telescope goes in the above "yellow section of the building" - 5 of them fit in the small circle where I am standing.

This telescope is housed in the building above

A sundog at the pole

Went out about midnight last night and saw the sundog!

The traverse is here!

Every summer we have a traverse that brings us fuel and supplies.  They are a group of vehicles that travel a great distance over a "road" in Antarctica.  Our first traverse left November 3, and arrived at South Pole December 3.  The traverse travels between 8-12 mph, and the workers drive 14-16 hours a day.  They left McMurdo with 120,000 gallons of fuel, and plan to offload 15,000 gallons to us.  Although this isn't very much fuel for us, we are just a stop over for them.  The traverse will be continuing to East Antarctica, on the high plateau to AGAP, where they will offload nearly 50,000 gallons in a fuel cache.

The second traverse will be here in about 3 weeks, and they will offload significantly more fuel.

I walked out to meet them upon arrival!!  The bladders hold 3,000 gallons each, and are just pulled across Antarctica on the sleds you see.  Some of their bigger trailers are living/eating quarters.

Just a webstite from the internet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pole_Traverse