The first LC-130 since mid February lands at Pole at -60F on October 21st
The
first LC-130 since mid February lands at Pole at -60F on October 21st
October at the Pole - First
Aircraft Since February
October is the month
when the final push is made to prepare for the arrival of the first
aircraft since mid February. For science, final reports are completed
for each project, operating manuals are updated and the lab is prepared
for turnover to replacement personnel. In addition, station opening
tasks such as installing skiway flags, grooming the skiway, opening up
summer camp, cleaning and moving out of your berthing and much more are
completed. The time passes all too quickly and before you know it, the
first LC-130 aircraft arrives and the station changes from winter mode
to summer mode. first plane (photo by chad carpenter)
All
of the winterovers are feeling a bit weary now and are ready for
a break off the ice. end of season look
Earlier in the month
we took out winterover photograph that shows the largest winterover
crew ever. I am standing in the front row, forth from the left. winterover photo
We also had our sunrise dinner a bit late this
year on October 1. sunrise dinner
Panorama taken from the back side of the
dome showing the new station, skylab and the storage berms. (scroll to the right to see entire
panorama)
I had
Glen take some end of season photos of my science site in
October. I am in the process of disassembling
the electronics racks in the cusp and cosray labs in order to move them
up to the new station. It will be sad to see skylab go.
the cusp lab (1st floor of
skylab) cusp rack
disassembly cosray lab
coming out of the back door of
skylab through the tunnel I built emerging skylab
SETI telescope and AASTO building
the SETI optical
telescope AASTO building inside the AASTO building
the Atmospheric Research Observatory
(ARO) the IR spectrometer inside ARO
the VLF transmitter
building the VLF transmitter
One of the two bands I was in this winter, "White Noise", had
its last
concert for the sunrise celebration on September
30.
White Noise
band-1
band-2
band-3
band-4
band-5 (photos
by Glen Kinoshita)
I had some photos taken of the many
layers
of Extreme Cold Weather Gear (ECW) that I put on every day. (photos
by Glen Kinoshita)
thermal
insulation
layer
2 layer 3
polar weight carhart coveralls
boot liners
FDX polar boots
FDX
boots VHF radio fleece
jacket balaclava
neck gaiter wool hat carhart parka
back
pack glove
liners head lamp
mittens dressed for average conditions
Canada Goose
expedition parka gauntlets
dressed
for windy conditions or long duration work
I will be leaving the Pole mid November after I get my project
equipment moved up to the new station and reassembled.
A Real-Time Photo of South Pole Station as Seen from the ARO
Building (live when satellite is up)
NEXT
MONTH: surfing in New Zealand
A
Comprehensive
South Pole Web Site by Bill Spindler
Winterover Web
Pages
(Bill Spindler's List)
