At the South Pole.....

   Above pictures C130 at the Pole, ceremonial Pole, Pole dorm room and the Scott- Amundsen Station                

I barely wrote about the South Pole so now it is time to describe life there. I was told it was unusually warm for the end of summer--temperature ranging from minus 20 to minus thirty, down to minus 40 plus with wind chill.

The second flight on the C-130 (Hercules) was able to land.  I was greeted by Al Baker, science support coordinator for Raytheon Polar Services Co. He immediately took my too heavy bag, knowing that all efforts were particularly difficult with the drastic change in elevation. The South Pole is at 9300 feet above sea level and one needs time to adjust to the drastic change in altitude from McMurdo. The medication dispensed by the medical office at McMurdo may have been helpful for some but it made my toes burn so  I discontinued it. The only ill effects I felt was breathlessness after a minimal amount of activity.

Here are some facts about Antarctica....  

Temperatures on the Polar Plateau range from -115°F to +6°F; the mean temperature is -56°F.  Winter wind-chills can plummet to -148°F.

It is less windy than coastal Antarctica--but much colder.

It is extremely dry--world's driest desert.

Once settled in my room (unlike McMurdo all rooms seem to be singles at "Pole") in the very efficient new station (built in the late 90's) I took a brief walk to the ceremonial South Pole, a marker surrounded by flags from many countries and then to the actual magnetic pole --several yards away. The marker is changed on a regular basis and is chosen as part of a design contest. This year's maker is a small bronze model of South Pole Telescope. Although very close to the station, that walk was the extent of my outdoor exploration for the evening. As I had arrived so late I was invited to stay for the weekend. By staying those  extra days I knew I would  see a great deal more of the Scott-Amundsen Station and South Pole life.

To be continued--about the South Pole Telescope,  Ice Cube  (the neutrino telescope) and the BICEP telescope as well as the clean air facility (ARO) and more.......

 

 

quiet blog.....but not for long......

Sorry all--blog has been silent.....will update tomorrow--no longer on the ice--but have lots of backtracking to do. More on the South Pole, McMurdo Station and other Antarctic matters.

the South Pole part one--getting there....

The South Pole presented an entirely different landscape---white and sort of flat--although soft swells are created in the vicinity of the station by the drifting of snow against the structures.

Getting there was a bit complicated. We flew in an Airforce C17 over the Transantarctic Mountains, past the giant Beardsmore Glacier, mentioned so frequently in the books on Shackleton and Scott's explorations. It looked like a superhighway of crevassed snow, with craggy exposed peaks on either side. The view was clear all the way but the pilots were getting reports of low visibility at the Pole itself. I had the great fortune (thanks to people at NSF and the NY Air National Guard)  to sit in the cockpit for the entire journey. The visibility did not turn out to be the problem however-- a slight malfunction of the landing gear forced us to "boomerang" (a frequent occurrence here, usually due to weather) and back we flew to McMurdo having been only 1000 feet away from the Pole. The pilot and crew were gracious and generous so the six hours spent in the plane was not such a hardship. We waited at Pegasus field for three more hours and then started all over again, and this time were were successful.  To be continued.....