July 8, 2008 – Tuesday -Teachers at Summit
The next few journals might be a little shorter than usual. We are feverishly tearing down equipment in order to have everything packed and ready by Wednesday evening.
Katrine and Christine haul the first of MANY pieces of science equipment out of Sat Camp.
Today we were lucky enough to welcome several teachers and students from the US, Greenland, and Norway! They flew in early this morning and were immediately rushed out to Sat Camp so we could give them a tour of all the research projects. They will stay here for two nights and will leave with us and our equipment on Thursday.
The international teachers and students from the Greenland Education Tour listen intently as the scientists explain their experiments
As we were giving tours at Sat Camp we noticed the Hercules had made a few passes on the skiway and was unable to take off! Apparently the snow was a little too "sticky” to allow for takeoff. So, the Hercules came back into the taxi way and the Summit Crew installed JATO’s (Jet Assisted Take Off) on the exterior of the plane. JATO’s are rockets that give the large cargo plane additional speed at takeoff. When they fire the rockets, smoke, snow, and black suet blanket the sky. But, they were finally able to get off the ground on their trip back to Kangerlussuaq.
After three attempts to take off from the Summit Skiway, the flight crew had to resort to JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off). You can see the flame from the rocket boosters near the back of the plane.
Food Update:
Lunch: Roast Beef and Turkey wraps with Chili and Cream of Mushroom Soup, Cole Slaw, Salad.
Dinner: Tenderloin Steak (rare!), Baked Potato, Broccoli, Caesar Salad. Dessert: Maple Walnut Pie, Apple Pie and Apple Custard!
Stay Warm!!