This morning I went to the weather briefing. To me it was exciting because it was the first time I went, but to everyone else it was boring which is a good thing. Boring days are good days for flying. The area over Greenland was cloudy and in Thule the conditions will remain cloudy all day but the plane is flying it's last sea ice mission. This is one of the reasons we did not fly yesterday. Today the conditions over the area we want to fly is clear and will have good conditions all day.
Today was our last sea ice mission in the South Canada Basin. I was unable to fly today but I was told that the flight was interesting and the plane had two guest fliers from the army base. IceBridge welcomes residents from the army base onto the plane so they can learn about Operation IceBridge and what we do. They loved the flight and I was told asked many questions. When the crew came back I found out that there was a problem with the plane. We will be able to fly to Kangerlussuaq tomorrow but we will not be able to do any science missions until the plane is fixed. Luckily the part is coming in tomorrow morning on the rotator. The rotator comes in every Thursday and leaves Friday, rotating personnel and bringing supplies.
A small land-terminating glacier on Canada's Axel Heiberg Island courtesy of John Sonntag NASA.
A sea ice lead in the process of refreezing, about 100 miles to the west of Prince Patrick Island, near the end of our sea ice data line. Several distinct ice types are visible at various points within the lead. A fairly strong surface wind is blowing from right to left in this image, pushing the newly-formed ice and the floes of older ice to the downwind side of the lead. Photo and description courtesy of John Sonntag NASA.
It is our last day and I have everything packed except for the things I will need for tonight and for tomorrow morning. I'm excited about going to Kanger. I have heard mixed reviews and I am trying to not make any judgments or conclusions before I get there. Every new place has things that make it good, bad, or special. I am told that the food in Kanger is not as good as in Thule. Part of that is because in Kanger we will be cooking our own food. I have been spoiled by the food and especially by the desserts here in Thule. Tonight I said a proper goodbye to the dining hall with a big bowl of cake and ice cream followed by a hot chocolate. If I'm leaving the good food behind then I am going out in style. I do like cooking for myself and according to the crew we do a lot of shared meals so I am looking forward to that. The up side of Kanger is that there is more to do outside. It will be slightly warmer and we may even have a few days where the temperature is above freezing. There are several hikes that I want to take and hopefully I will have a chance to see and do many more outdoor activities.
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