The IceCube Upgrade drill camp was still in operation last week. Above is a view with all heaters working to get the water for the drill up to temperature. But as the Upgrade season is starting to wind down, last week was a good time to get the whole group together for a celebration before […]
Last week the Upgrade team finished drilling the fifth hole and started in on the sixth. But it’s not all drilling for the team—there’s also installation of modules and then commissioning all the deployed devices. But there was progress on all fronts. The fifth string was completely deployed, and the commissioning team has been making […]
There’s been activity of all kinds at the South Pole lately, but let’s not forget about the greenhouse. Volunteer training has begun, and if those strong looking shoots continue to grow nicely, they might be enjoying peas at the Pole in no time. Much of the other activity has been focused on the IceCube Upgrade […]
Steady progress continues on the IceCube Upgrade construction effort. Drilling and installation operations have continued to stabilize, and four of the seven holes have been completed so far. It takes a lot of energy to accomplish tasks at each stage of the process, from heavy lifting by equipment to position the tower operations structures to […]
The South Pole moves every year. Well, it does in a sense, as the geographic South Pole continuously shifts due to movement of the ice sheet, moving about 10 meters per year—and the marked location of the geographic South Pole is updated at the beginning of each year to reflect the current location. It’s a […]
Three down, four to go. That’s IceCube Upgrade strings, in case you’ve missed the progress so far. Compared to the first hole, the second and third holes showed marked improvement in drilling time as well as somewhat improved overall installation times. The top photo shows a closeup of an mDOM as it is being lowered […]
Some weeks are more exciting than others. Last week at the Pole, it seemed there was cause for excitement at every turn. Foremost was the successful deployment of the IceCube Upgrade string. Then there was the two-mile “Race Around the World,” in which this year’s participants included the mDOM (in costume and finishing 73 out […]
Last week, the IceCube crew completed the drilling and installation for the first of the IceCube Upgrade strings. Above is a group of drillers on the day shift after deploying more than half of the modules into the hole. By the end of the week, they had begun drilling for the next hole. There are […]
If you don’t know what your head weighs, there are ways to find out. One way is to join the annual head weighing competition at the South Pole. Well, first you’d have to get to the South Pole…but once there, you’d have that option. This year, first prize went to an IceCuber, shown above after […]
Drilling has begun! Of course, it didn’t “just happen”—lots of hard work went into getting all the necessary pieces to come together. The previous week’s readiness review had identified a number of critical action items to address before actual drilling could begin. Once resolved, drill preparations began. The drill team routed hot pressurized water through […]