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 Bulding.
We finished breaking down the active neutron monitors, the NM64. So we moved on to the original neutron monitor, the IGY Neutron Monitor.
The IGY Neutron Monitor.
The IGY was the first neutron monitor in Antartica and began taking data in 1960. It was replaced by the NM64 in 1964, which has been used ever since. The neutron monitors are the longest running experiments in Antartica. They were also the first experiments to require winter-over deployments. The early data system was one that required a lot of maintenance.
The old paper strip data recorder.
They would basically record the data by punching holes in long strips of paper. The paper would then be spooled up and taken back to the states for analysis. But these systems would need to be cleared from jamming and otherwise maintained.
The Bit Bucket is a can containing all the paper punched out in the old data strips. It's very heavy.
So there is a lot of history in the CosRay building. So it is somewhat bitter-sweet to accomplish the move.
A painting done on the walls by some bored winter-over person.
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