IceCube winterover Marc stationed himself nicely to get this photo of the sun setting behind the ceremonial South Pole. He photographed it from a distance last month, under clear skies when the sun was still high. But you don’t need a month for the environment to look different. The two photos below of the IceCube […]
Although it was generally quiet last week, IceCube’s winterovers took some interesting photos of their activities and surroundings. First up, weather balloon launching. Winterover Marc put his training to work as he was on weather balloon duty last week. On one of those days, a sundog appeared just at the right time to serve as […]
The sun has not quite set at the South Pole, but it’s low and the shadows are getting longer. Last week, IceCube’s winterovers were busy (working and playing) outdoors. Marc learned to launch a weather balloon, so he can join the rotation of volunteers to launch daily balloons as there’s no meteorologist stationed at the […]
Winter officially began last week at the Pole with the final flight departure (above) and the last traverse, SPoT3 (below), leaving the station. The plane carried away the few remaining summer personnel, who did not want to miss that flight since the next one out wouldn’t be for another eight months or so. So, who’s […]
As the sun continues its slow descent, the temperatures at the Pole have been dropping as well—last week they reached –40 °C (which also happens to be –40 °F), cold by anyone’s standards. Everyone at the South Pole station has been preparing for the upcoming station closing. The last shipment of fresh vegetables that they’ll […]
This aerial view of the IceCube Lab (ICL) suggests that last week’s kite-camera tests proved fruitful. The low sun and the long shadows indicate that summer is on its way out, although that’s a long, slow process at the South Pole. Meanwhile, IceCube’s winterovers have been keeping busy. Last week, they gave a few tours […]
Summer is indeed winding down at the Pole. Last week saw the departure of the two remaining IceCube summer personnel, leaving IceCube’s two intrepid winterovers on their own until next November. The week was full of activity, though, mostly focused on tasks related to the ARA project, like troubleshooting communications (which required digging out and […]
As far as sun dogs go, these are hard to beat. Maybe IceCube winterover Hrvoje has a way of attracting sundogs? He took the photo above, and last month, he posed in front of sun dogs for winterover Marc to capture the shot. Since it’s summer at the Pole, people were still coming and going […]
Last week’s main activity at the Pole involved digging, lots of digging (see below). Two ARA stations needed to be dug out for maintenance and repair tasks. One of the stations had over two meters of snow to remove from it, so it was a bit challenging—but many hands make light (or lighter) work. The […]
At the South Pole, they have their traditions…and their training. Last week, training included station-wide emergency response drills. And training can involve some fun. Lobbing balls around in the gym (or doing anything), though, in full firefighting gear is strenuous and thus good practice. PolarTREC educator Elaine Krebs arrived at the Pole as part of […]