Ten days ago (wow, 10 days? really?!!) John Carlstrom (my adviser) and I left Chicago heading for Pole. As an explanation of the title, LASR = Lab for Astronomy and Space Research, the building I work in at the University of Chicago, and NPX is the postal code for the south pole. "NP" for South Pole? Don't ask, I don't know. Between the two of us, we had no less than 8 suitcases, all very close to 70 lbs. This was primarily because I was taking down half of the telescope readout electronics for the new camera we are installing on the telescope this year. This was secondarily because I brought camping and climbing gear plus enough things to keep me comfortable for 2 weeks in India in January. Yeah... John had a < 40 lb suitcase of personal things and I had 2 suitcases... We aren't going to talk about that anymore.
So the taxi that was to take John and I to O'Hare airport showed up at 3pm on time, but it was a tiny suv. We had specifically requested a van, and our amazing secretary Val got on the phone and made sure a real van showed up in 15 minutes. The driver couldn't believe that we had 8 suitcases.
Because John travels a lot, he is some sort of super-duper first-class citizen as far as American Airlines is concerned. By association, I got to live the first-class airline traveler lifestyle, going through the short check-in lines, relaxing in exclusive lounges, getting free drinks. It was great! Except for the fact that I felt like I was living in corporate America - the exclusive clubs contained almost exclusively middle-aged to older white businessmen in suits. Not a fan of that atmosphere.
Flying across the Pacific ocean, I sat next to a very interesting lady who worked with east-asian orphans, helping them get through school and go to college. She was focused on Sri-Lanka at the moment, but had also worked extensively with people in Malaysia and refugees from Tibet. What a meaningful path in life to choose!
We made it to Christchurch in 10 pieces, just as we had left. Christchurch is still deeply scarred by the earthquakes of last year - see my previous blog post for my pictures and impressions of the situation.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. We ask for your patience and cooperation on today's flight since you will be traveling with the King of Malaysia." It was 5:30 am, and we were preparing for our flight to McMurdo. A few moments later an entourage of security guards dressed in suits under Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear came in, followed by the King. I guess he wanted to visit Antarctica? No reasons for the visit were given, but I guess you don't get to ask questions about the King. He seemed friendly.
C-130 Taking off from McMurdo, headed for the South Pole
Our flight went smoothly, and we were fortunate enough to have good weather the following day so that we arrived at Pole on November 22. I went up onto the flight deck with the pilots during the middle of the flight. Not nearly as exciting as you might have expected - the 4 pilots all looked half asleep, everything was on auto-pilot, and nobody was touching a singe control.
In the cockpit of the C-130.
Flying to South Pole in the C-130
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