Antarctica

A few weeks ago I went on a tour of the South Pole ice tunnels. These run underneath the station, connecting it to the power plant, food storage, water treatment plant, and water supply. Probably the most interesting part was understanding how the water supply works. Fresh water comes from a Rodrigues well ("rodwell"), a hole in the ice we slowly expand by melting and pumping water out of it. To do so, we have to pump in hot water. Part of the heat is excess from the power plant, but the water needs to be heated again to 120 F immediately before being pumped into the rodwell.

The main science goal of our experiment is to measure faint microwave signals to help us better understand the Big Bang. Because the signals are so faint (equivalent to temperature fluctuations of less than 0.000001 degrees), we need incredibly sensitive detectors to find them. Furthermore, there are lots of stronger signals (e.g. from our own Galaxy) we have to reject in order to see the tiny ones from the beginning of the Universe. Therefore, most of our work here comes in two parts: upgrading our telescopes and characterizing how they respond to different types of signals.

Several people have asked me about the different stations in Antarctica. This time I'll provide some facts based on a table of the Antarctic stations displayed in the galley. Note that the version here was updated March 2009. More recent information can be found at https://www.comnap.aq/Information/. First the permanent U.S. stations are Amundsen--Scott (South Pole), McMurdo, and Palmer. Their peak populations are respectively 250, 1000, and 43. The total peak population of all stations listed is 4460.

The flight was canceled before lunch. The next day (December 13) we were scheduled for another 6:45 AM transport. Third time turned out to be the charm. There were only 3 passengers to Pole so we rode out in a van to the "passenger terminal" (a heated building with no bathroom). There we stayed until around 9. Then we went to board the LC-130, which left pretty much on schedule.

The flight to McMurdo was about as good as it could be on a Hercules. It was only 7.5 hours, and as I wrote last time, not too crowded. The weather was beautiful when we landed. About freezing and clear skies. There wasn't much new to see so I didn't take too many pictures. Getting off the plane, we were told the bus to station had broken down and that they were sending something else. 40 minutes later a vehicle/truck/object arrived (see photo).

Friday morning was a bit of a scramble. Newegg had failed to ship some urgently needed computer parts in one day as promised. Therefore we made a last-minute MicroCenter run before closing my boxes and heading to the airport. My excess baggage was surprisingly low: one 50 lb box and one 68 lb monster box. The airport experience was much better than last year. My bags were checked with minimal trouble, and the flight was actually on time. The only downside was that I was sick with a cold. I put a box of tissues in my backpack. This proved to be very fortunate.

My deployment date (the day I leave the U.S. for Antarctica) is this Friday! This time I'm writing about packing, flying, shipping, and related matters. The first thing to pack (although many leave it until the end) is personal luggage, everything you'll need for a few months away from civilization. The options for buying e.g. toiletries on the Ice are very limited so you need to bring anything you can't do without. This year I'm bringing a bunch more stuff to help me sleep--that was probably the hardest thing about being at South Pole last year.

As some of you know, I'm going back to the South Pole later this year in December/January. Preparing to go to Antarctica is an intensive process. Most of it relates to preparing the measurements and instrument upgrades we plan to make there. However, there's also a medical component. Antarctica is a "harsh continent" with high altitude (the effective pressure altitude at the South Pole is around 10,500 ft.), freezing cold, extreme aridity, and limited medical facilities.

[Note: This is the last in a series of posts adapted from emails I wrote while traveling to the South Pole for research in 2012--2013.]

This is the last entry from the South Pole. I just bag dropped for the flight back to McMurdo tomorrow (Jan. 4). The procedure here is even simpler than at McMurdo. The bag drop is at "Destination Zulu," the rear entrance of the station, so there's no need to drag bags outside. The cargo crew takes care of weighing so all you have to do is put a tag with your name on your bags and leave them there.

The Race Around the World was difficult. It was only -10 or so so full ECW wasn't required. I wore my big red but only long underwear underneath and fleece pants instead of snowpants. Even like that I was too hot with the big red all zipped up. I think just a normal jacket would have been better. Some kind of mask is required because breathing cold, dry air too fast can damage your lungs.