Mountains just outside of the town of Kangerlussuaq Greenland.
Today all of Greenland was covered in clouds and the prospect of doing a mission did not look good. Every night at 6pm there is a meeting discussing the next day's flight. Monday night we were told that we probably wouldn't fly but that doesn't mean the team gets to sleep in. Weather can change, and even though the night before all hopes of a mission were cloudy, we still got up hoping to have the chance to do some flying. Unfortunately, flying was not an option. The crew of the P-3 Orion is always aware of the weather. When we awoke Tuesday morning I went to the weather office at the airport with John Sonntag, basically knowing that we would not be flying but hoping there would be some kind of break in the weather. As everyone already knew but didn't want to admit there was no break in the weather. The flight for the day was canceled. Not being able o fly does not constitute a vacation. Work still goes on. I left the weather office with John and we went out to the plane. The flight crew was already there and the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) was on. The APU is the power source for the plane while it is sitting on the ground. The plane was nice and warm even thought it was sitting outside and all of the monitoring stations were on. Since it was a no fly day, I had a chance to download images from the forward camera (located under the plane at the front) and put them on a drive to send back to Jefferson Beck at Nasa Goddard in Maryland USA. Since we use the camera every day, having a down day gave me the chance to download the data. It took about an hour to transfer all of the files but once that was done I thought I was basically free for the rest of the day. I learned that just because we are not on the plane the words "free day" are a misnomer. Everyone had work to do. Going over flight plans, maintenance, looking at data, and writing reports.
A rare sunny day in Kangerlussuaq Greenland.
I had to go over to the Kangerlussuaq International Science Support Center (Kiss Building) to talk about my flight out of Kangerlussuaq (Kanger) the following week. I was given information about what to wear for the flight, what to bring on the plane, when to drop off my bags, and passport control. I will be traveling on a C-130 which is an Air Force plane. These planes are mostly used for transporting cargo, and I was told they are not very comfortable. There are no peanuts, drinks, or entertainment. The temperature of the plane can vary from hot to cold. I was told it would be one or the other so I was instructed to bring my snow suit along. If the plane is cold I will want to wear it. If the plane is hot then I can use it as a pillow. These are things one does not think about on commercial flights. I also talked to some of the Air Force personnel from the 109th. They are the ones who fly the C-130. They told me if I was lucky and the plane wasn't full I would be able to lie down on the floor and go to sleep. The flight is still a week away and I don't want to leave Greenland and Operation IceBridge, but it is nice to be well informed and prepared for my adventure home.
Operation IceBridge has had many guests since I have arrived. The crew is always willing to welcome people onboard to see what a normal flight looks like. For the last several days, there has been a reporter visiting with the crew. He is writing for the Guardian, and that morning I listened in on an interview between Avi Steinberg, the reporter, and John Sonntag, a NASA engineer and scientist. I listened in to the conversation trying to glean any information that I could. I was trying to be quiet and just listen, but soon the room started to fill up with people from the crew. It was a relaxed situation and as the interview went on, more of the crew came in to listen and to add in their input. I even asked a few questions. By the time the question and answer session was over it was lunch time.
After lunch I went on a walk around Kanger. I walked about five miles trudging through melting snow. It was in the mid-30s and the snow was melting. The place that was once a winter wonderland was now a sloppy mess. It was weird to see because the day before everything was frozen solid. I had walked on a frozen river only 24 hours before and I'm glad I got the chance to do that on Monday because today it would not have been safe. I went up to the top of Raven's Ridge Mountain where there was a radar system. From that vantage point one could see the entire town on one side of the mountain. On the other side of the mountain there was a lake. The view was beautiful. I am finding Kanger to be very scenic. I haven't found any view yet that hasn't been spectacular.
Colorful houses and buildings in the town of Kangerlussuaq.
The Barracks where the scientists and Air Force personnel stay while they are in Kangerlussuaq.
I'm including a video of a front end loader cleaning up the slush in front of our hotel. I call it a hotel but it is actually part of the Air Force barracks. There are many Air Force personnel also staying here. Growing up in Philadelphia, I am used to seeing snow plows cleaning up snow, but nothing as efficient as what occurs in Kanger. And for my Florida students, I refer to the mess outside as slush, not snow. Snow is the pretty white fluffy stuff on the ground. As the snow melts it turns to slush which is this wet icy mess that is now out in front of the barracks.
That night even more guests arrived. Zaria Forman, an artist, came in and she will be flying with us tomorrow. Jenny Nichols, a filmmaker, and Drew Denny, who works for CNN, will also be flying with us. It is nice to see Operation IceBridge getting the attention that it deserves. The crew works hard and the data they collect is essential for studying climate change. It is nice to know that the public, if not already aware, will become even more knowledgable about the project after these stories come out. I am including a link to Zaria's website so you can take a look at her art. It is inspired by the polar regions and she flew with IceBridge over Antartica in 2016.
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