Upgrade Update #15

Drill towers and support structures lined up neatly for storage.
Kurt Studt, IceCube/NSF

This is the final Upgrade Update as the last field work tasks have been completed and all the Upgrade personnel have left or are scheduled to leave the South Pole. Clear skies and sunshine show off the organized lineup of Upgrade drill towers and other structures that have been moved to the science berm at the End of the World (just what they call the area beyond the storage berms). A nice panoramic view from the End of the World featuring a sun halo is shown in the bottom image. Lots of heavy machinery was involved in moving everything there. The third South Pole traverse, SPOT3, arrived last week and will carry back Upgrade cargo like hoses and cable assemblies, which have been packed up and put on sleds for that purpose. As the final crew waits for their departing flights, they’ve been relaxing a bit, some of them entertaining themselves by throwing hot water up into the air.

Heavy equipment lifting off a piece of an Upgrade building.
Kurt Studt, IceCube/NSF
Kurt Studt, IceCube/NSF
Kurt Studt, IceCube/NSF
Steam emanating from tops of chain of traverse vehicles in the distance.
Kurt Studt, IceCube/NSF
Sleds out on the ice with large cable reels mounted on them.
Kurt Studt, IceCube/NSF
Frozen arc from throwing spray of hot water up into the air.
Emmett Krupczak, IceCube/NSF
Panoramic view at the South Pole with a sun halo in a clear sky with a few faint clouds.
Erik Blaufuss, IceCube/NSF