Despite a delay due to colder than normal temperatures this year, the IceCube team including the Winterovers began arriving at the South Pole on October 31. The drillers are unpacking the new cargo, setting up their shift roster, and making equipment modifications in anticipation of beginning drilling on December 5. The IceCube safety officer met with the drill team leader to discuss the safety plan and reporting structure for the season. The plan for this season is 14 holes drilled, 840 digital optical modules (DOMs) deployed, and 20 IceTop tanks installed.
This year in addition to drilling and deployment operations, the Data Handling team will set up the new IceCube Lab. Cables from the previous installations and from all of the new deployments will carry signals from the DOMs to the IceCube Lab, where the data will be processed and stored on magnetic tape. At the beginning of each season, the tapes from the previous year are packed for shipment to the North for analysis by the scientists of the IceCube Collaboration.