Last week was somewhat busy at the South Pole for IceCube’s winterovers. There were a couple of troubleshooting issues regarding the detector, and a trip or two out to the IceCube Lab (ICL). That’s Moreno below checking the status of some fans on computers in the ICL. On the recreational side of things, the winterovers […]
It’s getting colder and colder at the South Pole. And when temperatures get too low, the winterovers can’t use snow vehicles to get around. But IceCube’s winterovers still had snow accumulation measurements to take last week, and the weather was not looking too favorable. Luckily, they did manage to find some open windows of opportunity […]
Seasons come and seasons go. At the South Pole, you get only two seasons, and last week the South Pole station closed for…winter! (Isn’t it always winter there?) The last two planes carrying away summer workers left the Pole last week. The remaining winterovers said their final good-byes and then set themselves to the tasks […]
Last week was quiet for the IceCube detector but not so quiet for the South Pole station—lots of activity going on there. The third and final South Pole traverse of the season, SPOT3, arrived with its long load of fuel bladders, shown above and below, under a sun halo. SPOT3 was there just long enough […]
Last week, after quite a few delays, the last 25 members of the South Pole winter crew arrived. It is not typical for half of the crew to arrive so late in the season, but international Covid precautions among other things have complicated the logistics of preparations and travel. The station will be closing soon […]
Last week some of the remaining 2021 winterovers departed the South Pole—the plane taking them away is shown above as it lifted off, with the IceCube Lab (ICL) in the background. While it’s still summer at the Pole and the sun is shining on many days, there’s no getting away from the cold and snow—those […]
Last week was fairly quiet at the Pole. The IceCube winterovers dealt with a few detector issues and handled some other maintenance tasks and cargo-related activities. They also gave a tour of the IceCube Lab to other individuals currently stationed at the South Pole (photo above) and continued with emergency response training (last week: frostbite!). […]
Last week was generally busy at the Pole. There were lots of tours happening around the station, and IceCube’s winterovers Moreno and Celas were both taking tours (SuperDARN and BICEP) and giving them at the IceCube Lab. As members of the medical emergency response team, they both participated in scheduled drills last week, too. And […]
Sun halos have been plentiful the last few weeks at the South Pole. Above we see IceCube winterover Moreno walking off in the distance under a large halo. He was headed toward the “End of the World”—it’s what they call the area that extends beyond the storage berms out on the ice. Although the snow […]
Last week was the “last” (52nd) week of the year at the South Pole. As usual, there was a lot going on. For IceCube’s winterovers, this included dealing with a few detector issues, giving an IceCube Lab tour for a SPOT crew, locating containers of supplies buried in the snow, and continuing with medical emergency […]