The year ended at the South Pole with four strings deployed and the fifth hole drilled, ready for deployment to begin on January 1. Work in the ICL proceeds with computer cabling completed and ten surface cables installed. DOM testing and preparations for deploying the South Pole Acoustic Test Setup (SPATS) continue.
Preparations were made to begin drilling hole 4 (hole no. 74) on Dec 24 before a two-day break over Christmas. Drilling resumed on Dec 26. Firn drilling of hole 5 (hole no. 73) was completed around 6:30am on Dec 31. As of 5:30pm on Jan 1 all DOMs had been attached and the cable was around 1700m on the way down. The drill crew will be taking the next two days off (Jan 2 and 3rd) before starting hole 6 on Jan 4.
Debris from the old station was encountered for both hole 74 and 73. The drill was bought back up and the hole and drill examined. The drill was undamaged and pieces of wood were found at the bottom of the hole. It was decided to continue with the drilling to see if any more obstructions were encountered as that was deemed the most reasonable course of action. No further debris was encountered and drilling proceeded
All major computer cabling is finished in the ICL. Patch cables are being installed as surface cables become available in the ICL. The antenna enclosure will be installed after conduit is run inside the ICL to replace the cable runs removed for the internal fire rated walls added around the stairwell. It is hoped the antennas will be installed by the second week of January. Most computer systems have been powered on and final tests and updates completed before general release early next week.
All 16 old Surface Cables in the TICL were prepared for this week's planned activity - removal from the TICL and installation into the ICL. All 10 new Surface Cables have been pulled into the ICL and patched into Surface Junction Boxes and patch panel racks. This allows IceTop the ability to fill tanks at all the IceTop stations. All 16 Surface Cables in the TICL have been disconnected from patch panels and are prepared for transition to the ICL. This includes having quads bundled and connector protector caps attached. Cable removal from the TICL will begin Jan 2, 2007. The process will be to remove all 16 Surface Cables at once and then install them in batches into the ICL.
IceTop tanks at holes 46 and 56 are filled and the tanks at hole 65 are ready to go. The attached picture shows the DOMs in a filled tank—the water level is about an inch above the belly-band on the optical model bentosphere. The next picture shows the water transport tank (aka the water buffalo) en-route to the IceTop tanks at the hole. It takes about 4 hours to fill the 1700 gallon transport tank when empty, and each fill of two IceTop tanks uses about 1300 gallons. It takes about 1.5 hours total to fill two IceTop tanks from the time the water buffalo leaves the drill camp to the time it returns.
Testing for string 73 is complete and tests for string 65 started. The tests for string 73 show that wrapping the test-stands with card-board actually helps to keep out the heat from the sun.
The South Pole Acoustic Test Setup (SPATS) is planned for deployment in the upper 400m of holes 78, 48 and 47 (respectively the 8th, 9th and 11th hole of this season).
The 3 acoustic strings consist of 7 stages each and each stage contains a transmitter and a sensor module. Detector testing and DAQ chain verification is on-going, no major problems have been encountered up to this point.
Below is a rough plot of this years dust logger data along with a copy of data from holes 21 and 50 for comparison. The data still needs to be corrected for laser power and other things but, preliminarily, the reusable Dust Logger was a success.
Visitor Schedule to the South Pole Arriving 12/27: Polar Expedition from the Royal Navy / Royal Marines arrived after a 46 day trek from the Hercules Inlet near Patriot Hills. They are camping here for a few days before they begin their return ski.
Arriving 12/28: An eleven-person expedition of the Indian Navy and their guides, led by an ALE guide. This group is completing a ski of the Last 2 Degrees - approximately 120 miles.
Arriving 12/29: Ms. Hannah McKeand, a solo Polar trip from the Hercules Inlet. She started skiing from Hercules inlet on November 19th. The current record from there to Pole, set by Fiona Thornewill in 2001, is 42 days. (These two expeditions will be picked up by Twin Otter.)
Arriving approx. January 4: Thermal Heart NZ Antarctic Expedition - two man 54-day expedition to the Pole.
Arriving approx. January 5: Last Two Degrees expedition "Shackleton's Unfinished Journey" - five-person expedition led by Mike Thornewill.
Arriving approx. January 6: Polar flights aboard two Russian Mi-8 Helicopters. The number of visitors is still being determined.