Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 12/20/2012 - 03:58
Forums
Space Weather Monitoring on the Antarctic Plateau 2013

Hello, this is Alex Hargenrader and Ben Perry from Mr. Kasunic's Earth and Space Class of Oil City High School. We were wondering what kind of attributes are needed for your trip and job to Antarctica? What kind of physical did you have to take and any other types of tests? What kind of training is needed? Thank you for taking your time and reading our message!

                                                                                                                                                                           Sincerely, 
                                                                                                                                                                                   Alex and Ben
Mon, 01/21/2013 - 12:33

Tim Spuck

Alex and Ben,Attributes ... you need to be a sort of "goes with the flow" sort of person because plans change sometimes on an hourly basis, so you just have to go with it. A good sense of humor is a big positive too. Although you don't have to love cold weather, you have to at least not dislike it. Being willing to do what ever job is needed is important too ... so you need to be willing to pitch in whenever needed. And you need to be in good physical shape. If you get sick down there you're at least days and in some cases more than a week from any sort of hospital. So you go through an intense pre-qualification physical where they test your blood for a list about 50 different items, they do an EKG, and a complete dental x-ray of your entire mouth. If anything shows up abnormal it needs to be corrected before you leave the US or you don't go.
And as far as training ... it just depends on your job. For example they hire bulldozer operators, kitchen help, field guides, people who fuel the aircraft, etc. ... each job requires a different skill set.