Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 12/14/2007 - 10:26
Forums
Antarctic Ice Sheet Studies

Mr. Gillette,

We were happy to hear that everything is going well.

How long was the plane ride to the field?

We enjoyed the picture of you in the onesie.

Have you made any friends with the other researchers?  What is the ratio of males to females?

How deep is the ice you have been exploding? 

From,

Will, Kristen, Dylan D., Chase W., Chase T., Zach, Kevin, Sam, Connor, Kelli, Hayes, Courtney, Gafford, Trevor T. (baby doll), Dietrich, Laura, Blaine, Addy, Madison, Taylor, Kistler 

Mon, 12/17/2007 - 17:01

Brandon Gillette

The plane ride from McMurdo to WAIS was nearly 900 miles and took about 3.5 hours.  We have met tons of new people and have learned a lot about the other projects that are going on down here.  It really has been a great trip, despite some of the weather the past few days.  Here at WAIS the gender ratio is quite unbalanced, of the 40 or so total 'residents', 9 of them are females.  Back at McMurdo, I can't tell you an official count, but it is much closer to 50/50.  I would still say probably more males though.  We haven't exploded any ice yet due to weather, and we're not so much exploding anyway.  The ice is 3,400 meters thick but we're only drilling to a depth of around 30-35 meters.  There will be more information on this as things start gearing up for our first detonation!Cheers,~Gillette