![Shadow view of person standing and blocking sun behind them, holding a large weather balloon overhead.](https://res.cloudinary.com/icecube/images/w_1110,h_740,c_scale/q_auto/v1697121525/2023week40_balloon-launch-sun_Marc/2023week40_balloon-launch-sun_Marc.jpg?_i=AA)
Last week was another relatively quiet week at the South Pole. IceCube’s winterovers responded to a couple of pages for troubleshooting issues, did the monthly IceTop DOM calibration run, and finished up some tests and preparations for a workstation OS update scheduled for next week. Given a well-behaved detector, the winterovers spent some time outdoors. They launched weather balloons and took a break to enjoy eating (trying to eat?) alfresco.
![Weather balloon shown in its ascent against cloudy sky but with low bright sun showing through.](https://res.cloudinary.com/icecube/images/w_1110,h_739,c_scale/q_auto/v1697121549/2023week40_NOAA-balloon-sun_Marc/2023week40_NOAA-balloon-sun_Marc.jpg?_i=AA)
![Close-up of frozen food, chopsticks suspended in clump of noodles pulled up from bowl and coffee pot suspended by frozen stream of coffee poured into cup.](https://res.cloudinary.com/icecube/images/w_1110,h_740,c_scale/q_auto/v1697121539/2023week40_frozen-coffee-ramen_Marc/2023week40_frozen-coffee-ramen_Marc.jpg?_i=AA)