Blogs from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, Antarctica - page 3

I went out to Williams Field today to work on the allsky camera because I had nothing better to do. Had to install some software on my computer, cover up the dome so that the "sun up" indicator turned off (there is an intensifier before the CCD camera that is very sensitive to light), and take a bunch of test pictures of the inside of the several layers of jackets and fleeces. The pictures indicated something was wrong, so I went through some troubleshooting steps, but didn't get anywhere. In the meantime, I went to cargo to see if they could move the old box back to McMurdo. It will potentially be used to insulate the neutron monitor, which is in a heated building now, but they want to heat just the detector and not the ... read more

Some movie references in this one. Recognize the title from "Little Monsters"? If you have not seen the movie "Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels", you should. At the end, the least-bad guys have the imbecile of the bunch throw out the last remaining evidence that links them to a serious series of crimes. The imbecile throws the evidence over a bridge, but it manages to get caught on a ledge. At this time, the rest of the guys figure out that the evidence is worth loads of money and try to ring the other dude. The movie ends with the dude leaning precariously over the bridge, holding onto a phone pole with one hand to keep him from falling; his other hand has the evidence and is about to push it off the bridge for ... read more

Not a good day today. Paul, our engineer and system designer, is in New Hampshire. Marc, the Principle Investigator (PI) and my boss, is in Alaska. Vladamir Papitashvili, the official NSF yes or no, is at South Pole. Then there are the two Brians. I have to coordinate all of these people so that what needs to be done gets done. Figured that reconditioning the batteries is the best thing to try first, but also the least likely to succeed. By putting 2-3 Volts and 10-20 Amps (yeesh!) through these huge batteries for a whole day there is a chance of gaining up to 50% of their capacity back. That's 1 batter/day. Everyone began to realize that the solution is not a quick one and that my stay should be lengthened. Now, instead of the 16th, ... read more

I got up early and called around to discuss our energy problems with the energy expert, Brian Cunningham, and our NSF point of contact, Brian Johnson, who is in charge of helping our group and also ensuring that we stick to our budget (fat chance!). Brian C. grabbed some stuff and took us out to Willy Field in a Mattrack, a truck with 4 tank tracks instead of four wheels (pretty sweet). After a bunch of probing, we found that the batteries are dead, which is a huge on the budget being that they cost $1K each and there are 10 of them. Nothing I could do with that for the day until I talked with my boss, so I went back early, finished my badly neglected book (still Therapy). Afterward I finished I went for ... read more

Another slow day with nothing to do. Slept in, had brunch with tons of freshies. The Australians supplied the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) an Airbus to fly passengers down here because the air force helped them out with something last year. Sort of a thank you. It has been flying people down here all season (not me though), and it is big enough to put extra cargo on: new stuff for the shop, fresh fruit and vegetables, etc. So the last couple days there has been fruit and salad here, which is very nice. The Kiwis from Scott Base played their annual rugby game against the Americans today and delivered a royal butt whooping, as usual. I had to go to Willy Field while Paul was still awake in NH so that I could talk ... read more