With less than a month to go before my deployment, I am busy getting ready.
My AP Physics class is my first priority. Fortunately, I found a great substitute who happens to have a PhD in biochemistry. Since he will be covering atomic and nuclear physics, I’m sure he can handle it. He’ll also handle the first week of AP review, give two exams, and proctor the PhysicsBowl exam, in which we always do well, including first in the nation a few years ago. No pressure there!
After that there are a lot of logistics. First, is going to and from Alaska for the orientation. Interesting side note: Alaska is one of only two states I have never been to … can you guess the other? (The answer is at the end of this journal.) I am very excited for the training, to meet the other PolarTREC teachers, and to get a chance to see a little part of the largest state. My ten year old informed me that Alaska is the westernmost, northernmost, and easternmost state. He’s already learning about the places I’m going.
After a week in Alaska, I get back home and have just 48 hours to turn around before leaving again. Having never been away from my family for more than six days, I’m concerned about how we’ll all handle it. My office-mate is a former Marine Corps officer who served three deployments, so he’s been giving me good advice.
Did you know that the only flights to Greenland this time of year are from Copenhagen, Denmark? And they’re not even every day. With a population of just 56,000 (about the same as La Crosse, WI), I guess it’s not too surprising. The most direct distance between me and Greenland is only 3,500 km (2,200 mi), but I have to first fly to Copenhagen, and then two-thirds of the way back across the Atlantic to Greenlan, totaling about 10,000 km (6,200 mi)!
Then it’s two and a half weeks in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland working with NASA’s Operation IceBridge. I am excited to do some real science and be able to share that experience with my colleagues, friends, and family. I am particularly eager to share the experience with students, who are, after all, the next generation of engineers, NASA scientists, and polar researchers.
The first two videos (decidedly non-science) about my future experience are below and linked under the video tab above.
Math/Science Question Level I: If the Greenland ice sheet has an area of about 1,700,000 square kilometers and an average depth of 1.6 kilometers (about a mile!), what is the volume of ice in units of cubic kilometers?
Math/Science Question Level II: If the entire ice sheet melts, predict the rise in sea level. The total surface area of the world’s oceans is 361,000,000 square kilometers. (Ignore coastal flooding and volumetric expansion.)
Answers: Delaware, 2.7 million cubic meters, 7.5 meters (24 feet)