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Published: December 22nd 2005
C-17 in Christchurch
We loaded onboard a C-17 Air National Guard Jet bound for Antarctica. Unlike the LC-130 Hercules, the C-17 is much faster and can make the trip about 3 hours faster.We made it to Antarctica. The trip was surprisingly uneventful. We checked in at 6:30am. We were weighted with our luggage and then cleared for breakfast. At 7:20, we reported back for a briefing and baggage screening. Then, it was off to the C-17 cargo jet.
The C-17 was much nicer than the LC130 Hercules in that it takes only 5 hours to travel to Antarctica instead of 8 hours. Their insides were quite comparable. Lots of head room, but our legs were crowded with such large hand carry bags. We were also given a huge sack lunch.
About 5 hours after takeoff, we landed at Pegasus Field, a landing strip located on the sea ice of the Ross Ice Shelf. We were greeted by Ivan the Terrabus, which we rode for 20 to 30 minutes to McMurdo. At McMurdo, we were briefed further and asked to fill out some paperwork.
We were then excused to our dorms. The dorms are nice. I have two roommates from the Kansas team, Joel and Jerome. The room features its own phone and TV. The phones are unique in that you may not get a connection due to the limited number
Antarctica from the Air
I took this photo from the front portal window of the C-17. of outgoing lines (handled via satellite). Thus, you may get a busy signal and have to call back later.
After dinner, we all settled in to checking e-mail, calling loved ones, and writing journals. We are due for Happy Camper School (survival training) next Tuesday/Wednesday. Hopefully, we will head onward to the WAIS Divide camp soon after.
I also heard from Eric, a member of the first KU team. The PRISM Mobile Robot Marvin is operational. This is good news as he and I both created the rover and are responsible for its operations in the field.
Photos coming soon…delayed because of low bandwidth internet access.
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