A clear sky last week showed off some faint sun dogs around a bright sun. Clear skies also made for fine flying conditions—the last flights to leave the Pole took off last week. The station is officially closed for the season. They received their final supply of fuel for the winter, as seen in the image below, which looks like a plane getting fueled up but actually shows fuel being removed for station use, leaving just enough in the plane for a safe return flight. The black and white format of the photo of final departees heading for their plane gives an impression of otherworldliness to the environs, similar to the feeling some folks have of the Pole when they first arrive. That unearthly theme continued indoors last week in the form of extraterrestrial lifeforms on screen, with the traditional viewing of “The Thing” (all three of them) at station close.
