Yet another link

This was a phone interview with schools from Delaware to Nebraska. You can hear my voice, I think. http://www.expeditions.udel.edu/antarctica/call/dec14.mp4
For their blog, see http://www.expeditions.udel.edu/antarctica/

Also:
news.yahoo.com

IceCube in the news

We finished our last string on Saturday, and took yesterday off. We are in the news!

Check us out in the news!

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/17/icecube-antarctica-worlds-biggest-telescope-south-pole/
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/environment/article_f521ebfa-0b7e-11e0-97c7-001cc4c002e0.html
http://gallery.icecube.wisc.edu/external/completion_www/
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=118236

More photos

Hi! Sorry I haven't posted much on this blog: I have been extremely busy. I promise I will write more soon. In the meantime, click here for more photos!

A few links

The Moon-Regan expedition arrived at the South Pole a couple of days ago. They are driving across the continent on a "bio-inspired" fuel vehicle. http://www.transantarcticexpedition.com

IceCube also has a high school teacher working with us through the PolarTREC program. Each year a few teachers get matched up with various projects around Antarctica, and they work with us for a few weeks. She has some interesting blogs and description of her experiences. She is also conducting some experiments on her own: check her out at: http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/icecube-in-ice-antarctic-telescope-2010/journals

South Pole accommodations

This year, my accommodation is not quite as posh as last year. I am staying out in the Summer Camp, in the James way tents. The summer camp is located about 1/4 mile from the station, and it is, shall we say, a more rustic accommodation. Since there are 250 people at the South Pole and the station can only hold 150, about 100 of us are staying out here. The camp consists of 15 or so of either fabric or metal tents in the photo. I think these tents were designed in the Korean War era. You still get your own room, the tents are divided into rooms by wood and insulation, the rooms are surprisingly soundproof.

Another IceCuber showed me how to get around in these tents, from finding your room in the pitch dark (some people may be sleeping since people are working all shifts), to which building the bathrooms are located in. Yes, I will have to walk outside to go to the bathroom. I will be roughing it this trip! Apparently I got one of the nicer rooms in these tents: I have a desk and a chair, and I am away from the door which means less people walk past my room and more importantly, it is warm. And there is wireless internet, at least when the satellite is up. First order of business: put some pictures on the walls.

I'm at the Pole!

Here I am, finally! When fellow IceCube colleague and I got off the plane, there were several friends waiting for us at the airplane. It is still exciting to be here but definitely different from the first time. For example, I don't have a single photo from getting off the plane and going into the Station so you will have to look through my photos from last year. It's about -32 Celcius or -25 F. Once you are over the initial cold air taking your breath away, it doesn't feel cold as you might imagine especially with all the gear they provide. It's amazing what modern equipment can do! The altitude is more of a problem: the ice is 10,000 feet thick and there is much less oxygen here than at sea level. Everyone is advised to take it easy for the first couple of days to get acclimated. No running, no heavy exertion, and walk up the stairs very slowly.

There are currently about 250 people at the South Pole, 50 of which are working on IceCube. We are definitely the big kid on the block here. It's great to see some people I met here last trip, meet new people, and see old friends!

View from McMurdo

Our plane landed on an ice field at McMurdo.  In a few weeks, they will move the air-field out onto the continent, about 30 minutes away past the New Zealand base so that the ice breaker can come in to let ships come through.  The ships will contain cargo for the next year, and if you have big equipment you want to send something to Antarctica for a year from now, you do that on those ships.  Once the ice breakers come and there is open water, penguins and seals will show up since now food is accessible for them.