Field Deployment; Three Day Delay

Friday the 26th has now come and gone, and B-236 is still at McMurdo. Although it is absolutely gorgeous outside today, bad weather and poor visibility earlier this week disrupted helicopter schedules and left us with a three day delay.

In fact, after Mark and Brent's Monday reconnaissance mission to our field site was postponed until Wednesday, they got stranded with the helicopter crew across the McMurdo Sound at the refueling station at Marble Point. They returned safely on Thursday morning and despite the snag, reported a good recon and good news about our field and work sites. From the sounds of it (and judging by the photos they brought back), the scenery will be fantastic; also, and most importantly, the camp will be well suited to support our scientific endeavors.

Field Preparations

Since my last update, 'bravo 236' (our team's call sign) has been gathering and packing field equipment like mad. Our group will only be in the field a total of 7-8 weeks, but by looking at all our equipment you would think we're going our for months.

The reason for the massive amount of equipment has to do with our task of cutting a work tunnel approximately 40-50 feet into the side of a glacier. In order to accomplish our objective, we need multiple chainsaws and chipping hammers, along with generators to power them; also we need back-ups of everything so that productivity is not disrupted in our remote site. In addition to our tunneling gear, we need camping, cooking, communication, mountaineering and laboratory supplies; along with tents to cook, work and sleep in.

I am involved in the planning and manifesting of equipment prior to field put in so I'll be able to give a total weight of all our equipment we will take with us. Currently we are at about 1300 lbs and that does not include most of our laboratory supplies and food stores.

Due to the limited bandwidth, I am having trouble loading photos, but some are soon to come I promise.

Landfall

B-236 (my field team) has reached the southern continent!! Via our US Air Force C-17 flight from Christchurch New Zealand, we arrived at McMurdo station earlier this week, on Tuesday Oct 16. We are currently swamped with arrival briefings, trainings and other preparations for our upcoming deployment to the field. Outside it is a comfortable -4 oF (or -20 oC for the Canadian folks), not much wind but constant daylight. Sorry I don't have any photos as of yet. Look for more updates later this week.

Lightening the Load

It was time...

High Strung Anticipation

Hi Everyone,

Breaking News: Deployment date approaches...

Our team is currently on track to leave Bozeman, MT this Friday (Oct 8, 2007). At which time we'll enjoy a whirlwind of flights around the world landing us in Christchurch, New Zealand next Sunday. From there we have a tentative flight to McMurdo on Tuesday.

I am not sure if I'll be able to keep up regular (weekly?) posts, I'll be in the field most of my deployment without internet access at our camp. The plan is to hike down valley to the next camp and take advantage of internet access there.

As with everything in life, this site is an experiment in process...