Logging ‘till the very end
It is only a few days before the SPICE Core team (Anna and Jannes) and I board a flight and we are making use of every last minute of the camp. Originally, Anna and Jannes were scheduled to leave a week ago, but they requested an extension to complete their measurements so now we’re all travel buddies!
Today the Jocelyn update and the Science update are intertwined. In fact, the lines have been blurring for a while now. So, I’ll just recap my morning.
Currently, it is 5:30am. Jannes and I are at SPICE Core Camp collecting his final data (hooray!). Anna will be next when Jannes is done—9 hours from now. My morning started at 3am, with a plan to leave the station by 4am. An hour might seem a little long to just throw my gear on and hop on a snowmobile, but I’ve noticed that getting ready this early is a slow process because I try to be quiet and mindful of my neighbors. Around 3:30am, I make it to the galley wearing my three base layers (two thermal long underwear and windbreaker overalls). I pour myself some coffee and poke around the left-overs fridge for a snack to bring to the camp. I settle on cheese enchiladas and pack a few into my Tupperware container. I fill up my water bottle and head back down stairs.
3:45am and I’m putting on the rest of my gear- red parka, beanie, neck gaiter, three layers of gloves, snow goggles, boots. I make a quick pitstop for the outdoor essentials of sunblock and hand warmers. I’ve come to love both very, very much. I’ve never been known for my freckles, and yet, they’ve appeared at the South Pole! The effects from the sun are quick and obvious because of its reflection off the ice. Then, there’s handwarmers. I LOVE HANDWARMERS. Seriously, I might have to invest in my own stock (I know! California cold is not cold, but eventually it will be to me again). I stuff the handwarmers in my most outer glove and am set for the chilly snowmobile ride. It feels like such a luxury.
It’s about 5 minutes to 4am now and I can see Jannes standing in the distance waiting for me. I walk as fast as I can in my snow boots. We are lucky this morning and choose a snowmobile that takes all of 30 seconds to start. 4am (or maybe even 3:59am) and we’re driving off!
We make a stop at the IceCube Laboratory and pick up Jannes’ logger. It rides on a sled behind us, making the rest of our drive a slow one (for the logger’s safety). When we arrive at SPICE Core camp, Jannes turns on the generator, I bring in a box of electronics into the Crystal Palace, and we begin attaching the logger to the winch. By 4:38am, the logger is on it’s way down the hole—a record set-up time!
And now, we wait. We wait to reach the right depths and we wait to take measurements at each different depth. A lot of waiting and checking to see if the data looks strange and could indicate a bigger problem. The Crystal Palace is covered in origami animals that different team members have made as they have also waited. It’s quite cheerful; there is a walrus, a seal, an aquarium section with fish, lots of penguins, cranes, flowers, birds, even a tiny Christmas tree with a star! I have my eye on one of the penguins when it’s time to clean everything out.
Origami penguins
Preparing the logger
Logger being lowered into the ice
I’ll be here for the rest of the morning. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly!
Talk soon, friends.
Jocelyn
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