Hello All!
1. Ship Off-load
and Re-load operations...
2. Visit to Williams Field AWS
3. Mt. Erebus
4. Start to pack up...
5. Impact of the shuttle loss...
1. Ship Off-load and Re-load operations...
Soon, the big resupply
vessel will arrive here at McMurdo Station - the M/V American Tern will
soon come with all sorts of cargo to supply the station with equipment,
parts, food, and all kinds of supplies. Vessel
off-load turns relatively quiet McMurdo into a very busy and traffic filled
place. It will only take 5 or 6 days to do it all...both the off-load
and the re-load. Tons and tons of cargo come here and go from here.....
including supplies for South Pole station as well as for McMurdo too.
Picture
courtesy of Raytheon Polar Services
Company's Antarctic Photo Library
2. Visit to Williams Field AWS
Today we headed off
to fix the AWS site at Williams Field, which is the main skiway here for
the sky-equipped LC-130 cargo aircraft/109th New York Air National Guard.
Not quite as nice a day as the my last AWS field trip - it was sunny,
but windy enough to get a taste of the cold weather everyone has had back
home. Always a fun trip regardless, and it caps off our AWS field season.
3. Mt. Erebus
Although I've talked
about it my previous years here, it is worth updating folks on the studies
going on with the Mt. Erebus Volcano that is located right here on Ross
Island, about 11 miles or so from where McMurdo Station is. As one of,
if not *the* southern most active volcano, Mt. Erebus has been the focus
of study for sometime. The last year or so, they now have a video camera
for us to look at the inside of the cone of the volcano. It is neat to
watch the steam, and other gas materials escape from the open vents
and float into the atmosphere. Down the hall from our office here at the
Crary lab, is the Mt. Erebus Volcano Observatory, where all sorts of displays
and charts (now all digital, rather than paper strip charts as it used
to be a few years back) to see the earthquakes at and around the Volcano.
Very interesting stuff indeed.
...........
Picture
courtesy of Raytheon Polar Services
Company's Antarctic Photo Library
4. Start to pack up...
It is that time...as in a few days we'll hopefully be heading home to the US. Thus we have started to pack up our gear return the science tools we have borrowed, and look ahead to a return trip home. We'll keep you posted on how the remain leg of the trip goes for sure.
5. Impact of the shuttle loss...
This morning's news
of the loss of the Shuttle Columbia has had a true emotional impact here.
Some of the folks we work with, also work for or with NASA, and in fact,
in a remote outpost as McMurdo, many feel a kin relationship to the folks
in the space program...the jobs have similarities to them. Having
personally worked with folks at Johnson Space Center, Cape Canveral/Kennedy
Space Center and other NASA facilities, I'm saddened by the news. Our
hearts go out to the families and those work in the program.
Regards,
Matthew