February 03, 2006
Offload & Redeployment
Today we fly back to NZ. The pace in McMurdo has reached fever pitch and we are getting out just in the nick of time. We have spent the week polishing up our end-of-season reports, putting away our gear...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 11:05 AM |
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January 29, 2006
Closing Siple Dome
Back in Town. I am sitting in the coffeehouse writing this. As it turns out someone made a mistake and realized that we needed to pulled out before the twin Otters leave the continent on the 7th of February....Read this update
Posted by Luke at 12:50 PM |
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January 17, 2006
Goodbye Jethro
Oops. I guess I missed a Sunday. The past two have not really been days-off as usual. The Twin Otter crews aren’t bound by a weekly schedule as their counterparts in the LC-130s are. So they fly when the...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 02:23 PM |
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January 09, 2006
Hurry Up and Wait
This week might as well not have happened. We have been on the flight schedule to receive a Herc and a Twin Otter all week but the weather has not cooperated. We have been getting up early every morning...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 09:43 AM |
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January 01, 2006
Merry New Year
Merry New Year! We have had a busy holiday week. Christmas was pretty uneventful. We had flights up to Christmas but we didn’t get any mail. While we were grooming the runway for a flight on Christmas Eve we...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 12:29 PM |
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December 19, 2005
Alone Again
The wind continues to blow. Yesterday it blew from the north and today its blowing from the south so that everything that didn’t fill in yesterday is getting filled in today. The snow fences I set up work alright...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 11:07 AM
December 11, 2005
Fill 'Er Up
Another busy week here at Siple Dome. We got a couple of tanker flights to fill up our fuel bladder. What a difference! I had to cut one of them off because we exceeded the safe fill limit of...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 12:02 PM |
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December 04, 2005
Supporting Science
Supporting science. That has been the name of the game this week. On Wednesday our first group of scientist arrived: I-205. They are studying the movement of the continental ice sheet and, more specifically, the effect of the tides...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 02:48 PM |
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November 26, 2005
Thankgiving on Planet Zulu
Since Antarctica contains all lines of longitude, it also has segments of the continent in every time zone. Geographically speaking, here at Siple Dome we are on Hawaiian time because we are roughly on the same longitudinal line. But...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 11:14 AM |
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November 22, 2005
Context
Here is an overlay of the US over the Antarctic Continent. I find that a lot of people grossly underestimate the size of Antarctica. I also drew in a couple of places that I often refer to. I have...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 02:50 PM |
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November 20, 2005
Rezerking the Bogies
The big camp at WAIS Divide went in this week. At the moment they are using a portable 10-99 HF radio for communications so, most of the time, we can barely hear them but they sound like their doing alright;...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 09:30 PM
November 13, 2005
Internet at Siple Dome
Another week has gone by here at Siple Dome. This week has been a weather reporting farce. We finished grooming the runway this week but have only gotten one little Twin Otter in and they can land on just about...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 04:14 PM
November 06, 2005
Put-In at Siple Dome
Put-in at Siple Dome has officially ended after two weeks of digging snow, making a runway, and general opening tasks. Yesterday, our GA from McMurdo, Louis, left on a Twin Otter flight back to Base. David, the fuelie, and...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 12:41 PM
October 20, 2005
Getting ready for Siple Dome
Back at McMurdo. Just like we never left. It has been a crazy couple of weeks. To top it off, my computer died. Luckily, I had the new hard drive from Hong Kong and a Ghost Image to recover...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 08:32 AM
October 07, 2005
Hong Kong, Macau & NZ
Crazy! Hong Kong is an insane madhouse of people packed into high-rise buildings and narrow streets. To make matters worse we were there during one of the biggest Chinese holidays; National Day. From what we gathered from TV, more...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 09:09 AM
September 29, 2005
Thailand
It is hot and humid here. This is the rainiest month in SE Asia. I have to say we have been lucky. It has been overcast with upwards of 80% humidity but rain has done little to spoil our...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 04:07 PM
September 19, 2005
Tide
The shifting tides are taking us to the other side of the world tomorow. It kind of snuck up on us. We have been in Italy for almost six months. Tomorrow we start our two week journey back to the...Read this update
Posted by Luke at 09:10 AM |
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