Picture that!

Dear careful readers of this blog!
Did you check out the cool sign on the wooden box that we were unpacking? No?! OK here you go. Since in these boxes were batteries, they should not be kept outside in the cold, right? Thats what the sign is telling us:

Much inside less outside work today

Finally the batteries arrive. We waited for an hour...

That's the shuttle "bus"

That's Sven Lidstrom, one of two IceCube Winter-overs.

Today was the first of three days of software tests I want to perform on the detector. It went pretty OK, so i am happy with that! Finished right before dinner but we had to drive out to ICL to unpack the last of these damn heavy batteries from yesterday. Not to bad because I got some fresh air at least! We went there with the shuttle which is 100 times warmer but 1000 times less fun than the ski-doo.

Hard outdoor work part II

Second part of "flagging" today! Yesterday we managed 31 of 86 flags, which is not bad in 2,5 h! Today, after lunch we continued for 1,5 h and carried out 15 more flags.Then we stoped to bring Martin back to the Staation where he had some duties. So the two of us drove over there and I took the Ski-Doo back to the ICL. Riding a ski-Doo is so much fun, it's better then a scooter in my point of view. It's just hilarious... But arriving back at the ICL we coudn't continue with flagging. We had to wait for boxes of huge batteries brought from the cargo guys. And this job made our day. These boxes are heavy as hell! So there was only me and Ralf to unpack this. And at the end Ralf, who is in pretty good shape as being an American Football player, he said:

"I know who's skipping his work out tonight!!" So, the only pictures for today are the South Pole Telescope and me in front of the IceCube Lab on the second picture. Enjoy :)

2nd week started: Thomas arrived

It's already Tuesday again. That means that Thomas Meures, my office mate from Brussels, is arriving! He is just as lucky as I was last week concerning his flights. Perfectly on schedule they landed at 11 am this morning:

 

Basketball at Pole

Playing BB at Pole (I am the guy in the white jersey on the left)

That's the proof that it's possible to play Basketball at 3000 meter altitude (679.2 mb pressure!!!).
It was pretty tough game, not only for the mentioned physical circumstances but because of the high level of playing it self. I am looking forward to next Monday already...

Heavy drill outdoor activity

It's already my 7th day down at South Pole and today should be the day of my first real outdoor
hardware activity! So far, I was well pampered inside the station working on my software tasks for IceCube
which is an Astroparticle Physics Experiment, in detail a Neutrino Observatory at South Pole and the
reason why I am down here. I should write an intro article to IceCube at some point in this blog!
 So Ralf, the responsible IceCube manager for the IceCube "Polies", suggested that the Newbies, that is Martin Wolf and me, should get
some field work experience. So lets get it on! I was pretty ecxited! The first task was to start the Ski-Doo
in order to drive out to the ICL (IceCube Laboratory).

The ICL and Martin presenting it

This is M****x

It took more than 5 minutes and 3 men in best shape (me included ;)
to get this M****x started (picture)! I was already at my physical limits at that point...
It is not so bad to be outside if you have
your extreme cold weather gear but if your're sweating and get wet underneeth: that's a problem sometimes. But we were
alright, were prepared with heat packs all over the place: in the gloves, boots, pockets, everywere.
So we got that damn thing started and hooked the sly to it and drove out there.
Sitting on a 2cm thick plastic slay hooked up on a freaking Ski-Doo, running over 3000km thick ice with 20 mph is something that I won't forget.

This is Ralf & MArtin on the Ski-Doo on which the red sled is hooked up to. That sled

Me and the light drill

MArtin, Ralf, the flag and the drill for hole #30

After we got the flags that we would use to mark the IceCubes detectors positions (86 holes) and the heavy drill equipment we were cruising
over the ice in a quite random manner in order to find the a point to start with.
This is no kindergarden, this is really manly, tough work! It take three people, one is driving the Ski-Doo, one is drilling and the last is putting the flag in this two feet deep hole.

Another pic of me and the drill

Heavy outdoor worker

OK, I have to admit that the real heavy drilling for IceCube looks different. That is a hot water drilling as deep as 2500 meter under the surface!

The Firn drill is used to drill through the compacted snow, or firn layer, down to the actual ice which is about 50 meters. This is done before main drilling to save water that would otherwise disappear into the snow. Photo by: Hagar Landsman/NSF

But, hey, everybody starts a big business small, right?!

Sunflowers at the Pole!

If one is sick of seeing just white, white and white all day (which is NOT the case for me so far, I love it!) there is an opportunity: the Greenhouse! OK, you're right, it's not very green on this picture. That's because I didn't use flash and they have UV light in there. And it's also quite nice because they have a sofa in there where you can sit down to read or whatever. I really like the idea!

The other day at the shop...

Taking advantage of the huge dvd collection in the South Pole Sattion store I went there to take "The Ghost Writer" with me. So Jonny, the shop assistant, goes like: "Good choice! What's your lastname so that I create an account for you." Not to scare him off I only give him the Freiherr but this doesn't work out. He can't find me in the system. OK, so I give him the whole story which he didn't like either, of course! 2 min and 15 try outs later of spelling my name (I don't do this too often in english!) we aggreed on a synonym. Now I am "David F" he told me. Which I would be cool with. But the next day I came back to take another movie the other woman couldn't find me either. Again! After some time we figuered that I am not listened under F but under the letter E - for "David Eff" ...

Let's roast, smoke and fry a turkey!

For my traditional European taste there is a lot to discover at Thanksgiving! Warm Cider along with Baked Brie Pie, King Prawns and smoked salmon - that'S the starters! So let's see what the main dish brings !

It brings turkey, of course! But not only one style - there is smoked, fried and roasted turkey prepared by the lovely kitchen staff.
I was the only "IceCubie" in this seating, the others did attend one of the prior seatings. Which was perfect because in this way we had Carlos and John taking care and serving wine and deserts.
So there was enough to drink and plenty to eat, just winderful. Since Thanksgiving is a big thing in the States most of the people were dressed appropriately. In this way and by having the windows closed we had a very nice candle light dinner atmosphere!

I started to get worried about headaches when I found myself with four different beverages in front: beer, wine, caffee and water. So I ask my neighbour, who got the same problem, how to deal with this. He just said: "Don't worry, tomoroow won't be a bad day. We are at the Pole where the sun shines 24/7 !" That's how the party started...

80% Eclipse of the Heart

Ok here it is! We got all pretty excited about it and a bunch of people was already hanging around in the galley when I arrived. Thanks to Debi-lee Wilkinson, the Aurora Research Associate, we could watch this spectacle in a pinhole projection box using binoculars in front. 

Somebody found out that an aluminized mylar foil in front of your camera's lens suits perfectly well for looking directly into the sun!


But there are other ways, too!

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

 From the Station Guide:
"
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station,
located at 90 degrees south latitude, sits
at an elevation of approximately 2,836
meters (9,306 ft), most of which is ice.
Because the Earth’s atmosphere is
thinner at the poles, the resulting average
“physiological altitude” is 3,223 m
(10,576 ft).

The average annual temperature at the
South Pole is -49.5° C (-57.1 °F), with a record low temperature of -82.8° C
(-117.0° F) in June 1982 and a record high of -13.6° C (+7.5° F) in December
1978.

The extremely dry environment limits annual snowfall. However, a relatively
constant wind speed of 5-15 knots accounts for the snow drifting common to
inland Antarctic stations. The surrounding terrain is virtually flat, except for
shallow waves of sastrugi (small snowdrifts)."

no comment

Whiteout!

 Yesterday evening after dinner, John and Gary suggested to watch "Whiteout" where Kate Beckinsale plays the role of an U.S. Marshal that tracks a killer in Antarctica, as the sun is about to set for six months. It's about an old Russian air craft that chrashed 50 years ago. Pretty flat plot, I think, but it was quite interestin to see how our remote environment makes good points for holding a thriller movie. In the movie they're also wearing the ECW we have, it's so authentic! But their Station is much bigger and nicer. Of course, Kate has a huge President suite with extra Bathroom! Ah, since it is a thriller, there is also a Killer who looks like...well black ECW gear as the dude on the picture below!

It was quite warm (-26°C) yesterday but windy as you can see on the last picture where the light becomes fuzzy because the snow is dispersed by 10 knots wind around the station.

Tonight we'll have an 80 % eclipse! I hope that the clouds move and offere a clear sky to see the spectacle!!

Whazz up Sundog?

Heyho!
Skidoo introduction was fun, it's like riding a scooter more or less. On my way to the training facility I took a picture of this "sundog" (Nerds also call it parhelion). It's quite cool, don't you think?

Ski-Doo!

Today I'll get an introduction to drive a ski-doo! Great!

Home Sweet Home

In order to give you an insight of how housing is at the South Pole, here you go!
Jamesways is the nice name for the built up summer camp around the station. It's actually quite nice, everybody gets his own little home sweet home ! And the best thing about it is the fact that our tent is the closest to the bathrooms! Only about 10 steps across the "street" !

Welcome to 90° South !

So, I heard I better write this blog in englisch for some non-German-but-Neapolitan-speakers amongst us ! Nevertheless, there will be some german posts now and then.

Lucky again!Not only our flight from Christchurch on Monday was possible due to good weather in Mc Murdo but also our flight to the Pole yesterday was inly 2 hours delayed. There were others on our flight who were waiting for that already one week!

The flight itself was quite comfortable - as comfortable as it can get on board a C-130 US Air Force air craft (aka the Ice Dragon).
We enjoyed our goPicnic lunch packet and after about 90 min flight time we enjoyed even more what we saw outside the window:

an unbelievable stunning TransAntarctic Mountains' panorama. Following the introduction of the copilot that we'll make "this trip more of a spectacle", he invited everyone of us to enjoy the view not only from our seat but also from the pilot cabin. So this was a great trip!

Arriving at pole was perfect, our extreme cold weather gear is protecting us against a Temperature of -46.5°C. Yes, that's quite cold but no problem if you get such a warming Welcome by John Jacobsen and Gary Hill who both work since long time in IceCube.
Fortunately, so far I am not affected by any altitude decease as it is frequently the case at this hight (2836 m) that feels like being at 3223 m because of the thinner atmosphere at the poles. After a security briefing we went on to dinner which was really delicious!

On the left you find the proof that I am actually there and not just faking! Well, you don't really see me but enlarge the picture to about x10 and look on the right sight at my parka! There you find my name tagged on it! Well, this isn't a 100% proof either and I try go give you some identifiable shots in the coming weeks!

We made it south!

Last and final stop: 90° south. We made it! with a little bit of delay but comfortable flight!
Satelite is down in 5 min - so tomorrow more about that!

Cheers!

Thanks for flying with US Air Force & very Welcome to Antarctica!

Geschafft! War ein entspannter Flug mit viel spannenden Gästen!

Da wäre z.B. Tim Foster, 9 Winter und 6 Sommer in der Antarktis schon hinter sich, der gerade mal drei Wochen zu Hause war und schon wieder aufs Eis geht. Natürlich nicht ohne eine volle Kiste Wiskey:)
Ausserdem hab ich gelernt, dass

Malaysia eine recht demokratische Monarchie hat, dessen König alle fünf Jahre von 9 Sultanen gewählt wird. Sagt der aktuellle Malaysische Könog auf dem Weg in die Antarktis - er besucht drei Tage lang die Scott Station. Hier links posiere ich mit dem posierlichen 1. Berater des Aktuellen Königs. Eine Stimmungskanone, der man seine 71 Jahre nicht an sieht, finde ich! Den König selber durften wir leider nicht fotografieren, nur die Hand schütteln

Mit "Ivan dem Terra Bus" gehts dann direkt zur Siedlung. Knapp 1100 Menschen sind zur Zeit in Mc Murdo, auf einen Wissenschaftler kommen 3 Mitarbeiter, wie z.B Verwaltung, Köche, Feuerwehr etc.
 Hier kann man es gut aushalten!

Ich muss mich jetzt erstmal kurz hinlegen. Morgen früh gehts weiter an den Pol!

Morgens: Gut geschlafen, nette Jungs, kleines Zimmer. Jetzt gibts gutes Frühstuck und dann einen Rundgang durch Mc Murdo! Abflug in 4.00 h geplant - mal sehen ob es das Wetter zulässt.
Nach einem kleinen Rundgang durch diese nette Goldgräbersiedlung, hier noch ein paar Eindrücke: