Sign
Saying goodbye to McMurdo Well, I arrived home just in time for my little girl's birthday. I got in at 7:30 PM last night and got to sleep by midnight. I hit the ground running at 5:30 this morning…
Clouds
McMurdo from above. IF the weather cooperates this will be my last day in McMurdo (and that is a big if). I am scheduled to bag drag tonight and then begin the long trek home tomorrow, as long as…
Original 12
Nations with regular operations in Antartica are bound by the Antarctic Treaty of 1959. The 12 original nations to adopt the Antarctic treaty were Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand,…
Erebus
Today I got to spend part of the day in the McMurdo Ice Sheet. This was really my first time in the field, most of my responsibilities have been on Station so far so this was a real treat. This is…
The Wormherders in the Dry Valleys.
Yesterday, I got the chance to meet a bunch of extraordinary scientists. I was thrilled with the result, I had the privilege to sit down briefly with Diana Wall and Ross Virginia. They had to bag…
Breaker and Copter
Getting to McMurdo is pretty hard. I told you about the C-130 that I flew in on. The C-130 is well suited for this because it is the largest transport plane that can be equipped with skis. C-130…
Art Show
So what is there to do at McMurdo? McMurdo is like a small town. But the community has to make a lot of their own entertainment because there is only limited access to television and internet. The…
The Discovery Hut on Hut Point
Yesterday, we got a tour of a historic site on Ross Island from Elaine Hood. Elaine is a sort of the outreach guru down at McMurdo and is one of my favorite people at the station. She gave us a tour…
Clouds at McMurdo
I've been posting a lot about the science of what I'm doing and a little about what life is like down here but I've rather neglected posting about Antartica proper. I think I've been waiting to find…
Weather Map
Here are the basics on Antarctic Weather. McMurdo Station breaks the weather conditions down by a Weather Danger Classification Scale that is summarized by a scale of 3 conditions. Condition 3 (…
Wind Generators
If I had to describe McMurdo Station. I might be hard pressed to capture it. It is a bit like if a town in the old west was run by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). Or if a mining…
CosRay
Some of are feeling little conflicted about the progress we have made taking down the neutron monitors. It kind of hit us today. The CosRay building is rather a piece of history. The Cosray…