Week 32 at the Pole

Front view of the IceCube Lab at twilight, stars in sky and sunlight just barely on horizon.
Martin Wolf, IceCube/NSF

Some weeks at the Pole are busier than others, and last week was one of the busy ones. IceCube winterovers made not one but two trips out to the IceCube Lab. The first trip was planned and entailed replacing a hard drive while also fitting in some inclinometer measurements while they were out there. The second trip was in response to an emergency call—the first one for this year, indicative of the IceCube detector’s robust performance. They were able to replace a computer card to get the failed hub, the source of the call, back up and running. And this was in addition to other operational work performed from the station. Station life itself was relatively quiet. Outside, the sun’s light keeps creeping into the sky.

Winterover Josh disconnecting cables in computer hub.
Martin Wolf, IceCube/NSF
Winterover Martin replacing card in the computer hub.
Josh Veitch-Michaelis, IceCube/NSF
Winterovers Martin and Josh taking selfi outside the IceCube Lab, with arms up, stars in sky and sunlight along horizon.
Martin Wolf, IceCube/NSF