A lot happened at the Pole last week, even though there aren’t a lot of pictures to show for it. First of all, IceCube winterover Celas returned after a short necessary trip to McMurdo Station, much to the delight of IceCube winterover Moreno, who had been holding down the fort on his own in the […]
Life at the Pole
Week 50 at the Pole
Last week was generally busy at the South Pole. The first LC-130 of the season arrived, staying long enough to offload its contents and then reload with cargo to take back to McMurdo. You can see the IceCube Lab off in the distance below, between the snow tractor and the plane. Last week also happened […]
Week 49 at the Pole
It’s always exciting to see the South Pole traverse show up at the Pole. SPOT, as this long, multi-tractored caravan is called, arrived last week bearing essential fuel and cargo. You can see the fuel bladders in the foreground of the image above, which shows off a nice sun halo in the clear sky. This […]
Week 48 at the Pole
It was a busy week at the Pole. Last year’s IceCube winterovers, Martin and Josh, finally boarded a departing flight after weather delays had caused them to remain at the South Pole longer than planned. They’re in the middle of the image above, with hands up waving goodbye—thanks, Martin and Josh! The rest of the […]
Week 47 at the Pole
Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the US and as such is celebrated at the South Pole, too (where traditions abound in celebrating many holidays along with all kinds of other things). For Thanksgiving, festivities always include a nice meal in the galley, with tables decked out in formal dinnerware and decorations around the room, […]
Week 46 at the Pole
Last week was busy at the South Pole—and cold, too, even though it’s summer there. There were some “boomerang” flights (where a plane on course must turn around and go back, usually due to weather), leaving last year’s IceCube winterovers stuck at the Pole … just a bit longer. Meanwhile, IceCube’s summer activities went into […]
Week 45 at the Pole
Last week, there were a lot of “firsts” for IceCube’s two new winterovers, Moreno and Celas. One of these firsts was doing snow measurements at all the IceCube surface stations, a task done in the summer season when you can see what you’re doing outside. Martin and Josh showed them the ropes as they all […]
Week 44 at the Pole
Last week, Moreno Baricevic and Wenceslas “Celas” Marie-Sainte, IceCube’s two new winterovers for the 2021-2022 season, arrived at the South Pole. They appear in the image above along with Josh Veitch-Michaelis and Martin Wolf, IceCube’s outgoing winterovers. This changing of the guard happens every year, but timing doesn’t always allow for a group-of-4 photo. Before […]
Meet IceCube’s 2021-2022 winterovers, Moreno and Celas!
It’s that time of the year when last year’s winterovers are finally relieved of their duties as a new crew arrives at the South Pole. “Winterover” is the name given to the brave individuals who sign up to live and work at an Antarctic field station for a full year—sometimes longer—half of which is spent […]
Week 43 at the Pole
The IceCube detector may have been quiet, but there was plenty of other activity last week at the Pole. First up, shoveling snow. IceCube winterovers tackled the mounds of snow that had accumulated on the steps and platforms outside the IceCube Lab. Above is the “after” photo, below is the same spot only a week […]