ARTEMIS

Thwarted

We ballasted the Sunfish vehicle in a small tank in our lab yesterday. The tank is filled with water circulated into the lab from McMurdo sound, so the salinity (and vehicle buoyancy) should match what we’ll see in the field. This also means that the water temperature is around 31 F, and it is not pleasant to touch.

Some fellow researchers at McMurdo have a fish hut set up down on the sea ice where they collect invertebrate marine life through a drill hole. The hut protects the hole against refreezing and also shelters the work area around the hole. They offered that we could use the hut yesterday around 4 pm when they were finished for the day. Very nice! So, we packed up all our gear in the afternoon and planned to head out to the hut.

However, by the time we were leaving the station, things didn’t feel right. We were rushing, the wind was howling, and visibility was not good. The weather folks were in training all day, so we didn’t have a confident weather prediction. This did not feel like the right set of conditions for our first test of Sunfish under ice. So, at the edge of town, we made the smart call and turned back.

The hut is available to us again today. Currently, the temperature is -32 F. The wind is 17 mph, gusting to 32 mph. This time, we’ve got the whole day, and the forecast is for the wind to come down as the day goes on. We’ll pack up this morning and try again to get Sunfish under the sea ice.

Reporting by Peter Kimball

Sea Ice Training and Site Reconnaissance

We went out on the sea ice for the first time yesterday. We went with Alasdair, a USAP sea ice expert, to learn about safety (especially vehicle safety) around sea ice cracks.

After learning about ice crack safety, we proceeded South across the sea ice to the edge of the McMurdo Ice Shelf and began looking at potential sites for our main field camp. We want to find a site on the sea ice that’s close to scientifically interesting sections of the ice shelf (there are many factors), and near a place that our vehicle tracking team can get up onto the shelf safely with minimal detour.

Our vehicles performed well on the sea ice despite the cold.

We learned over the radio that the air temperature out on the ice was -41 F! Fun fact: -40 C and -40 F are the same temperature.

We had a beautiful day out on the sea ice, including views like this one back toward the station.

A view of McMurdo Station with Mt. Erebus and Mt. Terror in the distant background. (photo: Peter Kimball)

Reporting by Peter Kimball

While We Still Have Darkness

Vince’s Cross, sea ice lit by McMurdo Station, and faint aurora australis. Vince’s Cross is made of oak, and was erected by Scott’s first expedition in March 1902, in remembrance of the death of Seaman George T. Vince who slipped off of a cliff and drowned while trying to return to the ship during a blizzard. Vince was the first person to die in McMurdo Sound. (photo: Peter Kimball)

Today (Sunday) is a day off. So, we worked late after dinner last night, and then Justin and I headed out on foot to Discovery Hut. Our goal was to escape the lights of McMurdo station and photograph the antarctic night sky while we still have darkness. This mission was an unequivocal success. We were rewarded with very clear skies, milky way like I’ve never seen, and even some faint auroras.

It was -23 C while we were out. We fared well, but I did sustain a small injury: a cold burn on the tip of my nose from touching it to the LCD screen on the back of my camera after my breath had condensed there. The wind came up about an hour in. We lasted only another 10 minutes before we had to retreat to the station. Here are some more shots from the evening:

Reporting by Peter Kimball

The View From Our Lab

The view from our lab window. USAP field safety folks are out on the sea ice setting up huts for other science groups. Our field camp will be further away and off the left side of this image – as close as possible to the ice shelf. (photo: Peter Kimball)

I just wanted to share the view from our lab window. At this time of year, each day is basically an 8-hour sunrise, followed by an 8-hour sunset. These mountains are lit with beautiful pastel light all day, but the lighting angle changes as the sun swings around behind us. This picture was taken at about 11:30am. It was -25 F outside.

We walk to dinner at very nearly the same time each evening, so it’s easy to notice the lengthening days. True darkness is becoming more brief each night. At the same time, the C-17 landing was the last time I’ve felt direct sunlight (the station sits on the southern slope of Ross Island).

Meanwhile, we’ve been hard at work preparing the Sunfish vehicle to get wet and completing more required trainings (yesterday included Radio Communications, Waste Management, and GPS). We’re very excited for today’s training: Working On Sea Ice!

Reporting by Peter Kimball

Unpacking Our Gear

John checks out our optical fiber termination gear. (photo: Peter Kimball)

Yesterday, we took delivery of our gear to our lab space in the Crary Lab building. Today, we’ve been checking basic system functions on the Sunfish robot and preparing for deployment. Our gear seems to have survived the shipping process very nicely, although Chris did have to re-crimp one power connector… not bad.

Reporting by Peter Kimball