After at two year hiatus, it looks like I've found myself back in Antartica! This year I will be spending two full months at the South Pole. We are here to install the third-generation camera on the South Pole Telescope (SPT). This camera is creatively called "SPT-3G." I know, it sounds like a cell-phone network. But the name is uniquely searchable on the internet, a very important criteria! This year, I will be blogging about my time here in Antarctica deploying SPT-3G. I'll write a dedicated post about the instrument and the science we plan to do with the data later. Stay posted.
Let's get things going with a few pictures from the trip from sunny California to the snowy (but still sunny) south pole. The trip starts with a flight to Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch had a bad earthquake back in 2011 (see my blog posts from that time), and has recovered remarkably. Down town Christchurch is now vibrant and full of people, shops, flowers, and kiwi charm. Sadly, another earthquake shook New Zealand while I was on the airplane over the Pacific. Unlike 2011, however, the earthquake was away from city centers so the quake did not cause nearly as much damage. We ended up staying in Christchurch for only 20 hours, before flying on to Antarctica.
On the next stage of the trip, we flew from Christchurch to Ross Island on the coast of Antarctica. This flight is on a C-17, run by the New York national guard. Below is the inside of the plane. Our luggage is strapped in on the left, and passengers are on the right. Note the guy in the hammock - good thinking!
Everything in Antarctica is big, heavy, and robust. This notably includes clothing and vehicles. Here are a couple shots of the vehicle we took between the McMurdo station and the Pegasus airfield.
We spent a few days in McMurdo waiting for good weather to fly to pole. Since it was early season, I was able to go down the "Observation Tube." This is a ~20 foot metal tube with a glass observation chamber at the bottom that has been installed in the ice. You climb down, then are able to see into the Antarctic Ocean, under the ice. It was amazingly beautiful! We were able to hear the sounds of seals.
The third and final stage of the trip is a flight from McMurdo to the South Pole on a LC-130. This flight went very smoothly, but I unfortunately missed seeing most of the trans-Antarctic mountains. Here is one picture I did get.
It's great to be back at Pole! I'm very excited for SPT-3G, and happy to be here as part of a great team. Looking forward to the next two months!
Let's get things going with a few pictures from the trip from sunny California to the snowy (but still sunny) south pole. The trip starts with a flight to Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch had a bad earthquake back in 2011 (see my blog posts from that time), and has recovered remarkably. Down town Christchurch is now vibrant and full of people, shops, flowers, and kiwi charm. Sadly, another earthquake shook New Zealand while I was on the airplane over the Pacific. Unlike 2011, however, the earthquake was away from city centers so the quake did not cause nearly as much damage. We ended up staying in Christchurch for only 20 hours, before flying on to Antarctica.
[Christchurch]
On the next stage of the trip, we flew from Christchurch to Ross Island on the coast of Antarctica. This flight is on a C-17, run by the New York national guard. Below is the inside of the plane. Our luggage is strapped in on the left, and passengers are on the right. Note the guy in the hammock - good thinking!
[Inside of the C-17]
[Here's the C-17, having just landed on the Ross Ice Shelf.]
Everything in Antarctica is big, heavy, and robust. This notably includes clothing and vehicles. Here are a couple shots of the vehicle we took between the McMurdo station and the Pegasus airfield.
[Transportation from Pegasus to McMurdo. Erebus in the background.]
[Inside the transportation]
[stickers inside the transportation]
We spent a few days in McMurdo waiting for good weather to fly to pole. Since it was early season, I was able to go down the "Observation Tube." This is a ~20 foot metal tube with a glass observation chamber at the bottom that has been installed in the ice. You climb down, then are able to see into the Antarctic Ocean, under the ice. It was amazingly beautiful! We were able to hear the sounds of seals.
[Adam drops into the Obs Tube]
[Antarctic Ocean, under the ice]
[Matt re-emerges all smiles!]
The third and final stage of the trip is a flight from McMurdo to the South Pole on a LC-130. This flight went very smoothly, but I unfortunately missed seeing most of the trans-Antarctic mountains. Here is one picture I did get.
[Trans-Antarctic Mountains]
It's great to be back at Pole! I'm very excited for SPT-3G, and happy to be here as part of a great team. Looking forward to the next two months!
[At the South Pole!]
