Busy, busy,…busy! There was a lot going on at the Pole last week. The South Pole traverse (SPOT) arrived, delivering much needed fuel along with other cargo. The above image shows the first group of SPOT vehicles arriving over the ice, with additional vehicles off in the distance. In the austral summer, SPOT expeditions run between McMurdo Station and the South Pole station. This SPOT crew will be at the Pole for about a week before returning. But they will come back on another trip later in the season, likely in January. The IceCube team had been waiting a while for this cargo to show up, which meant they had lots of unpacking and sorting to do, and then more effort at the IceCube Lab (check out that crane, below) to try to make up some lost time and get everything installed. The IceCube Upgrade camp has been busy as well. The bottom image shows a nice view down into a test hole drilled into the firn.
