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Today I helped meteorologist, Katie Koster, launch a weather balloon. Katie is a molecular biologist by training, but now finds herself staying for the winter to launch weather balloons from the South Pole Station. Every day at 10:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M. a balloon

50 feet below the South Pole station begins a series of tunnels leading to Rod wells that house fresh drinking water. A 'Rod well' is created by hot water drilling into the ice until water is reached. As more hot water is added, the ice continues to melt, creating a bowl that contains freshly melted

Anyone staying at the South Pole station arrives on a LC-130 Hercules with skids. This allows the planes to land on the ice runway with skis covering their wheels. The runway is about two miles in length and is maintained regularly by Fleet Ops who groom the runway, and the survey team who checks

So how do you get to the bottom of the world? In today's modern age of travel and communication, we are accustomed to flying to another continent in a few hours, or connecting to the other side of the world by video in a matter of seconds. But things are different

Home and recovered, mostly anyway! Take away the struggle with my sleep schedule and all is well. It has been nearly two weeks since I arrived back in Wisconsin. I was met with open arms from an excited and loving family. My students were eager to have me back as well and being back in the classroom

One of the best things about the South Pole is that everyone is willing to help out anywhere. From volunteering to wash dishes to stocking shelves in the store, people are more than willing to step in to help when needed. U.S. Antarctic Program Surveyor, Ray

Home Sweet Home When I received my assigned schedule for my time in Antarctica, my first day on the ice was Wednesday, November 1 with my last day being Friday, November 24. Of course, this was the schedule in an ideal world. I had been warned about the ever-changing weather conditions at the

Today I saw my first sun dog in the sky! This is a phenomenon that is caused by the light refracted by ice crystals in the sky. It usually looks like a circle is wrapped around the sun and can give the appearance of more than one sun in the sky. This morning was the first hazy day we've had so it