Another short post; the TIME team unites at last!
After 2 weeks of a COVID-related pause on all incoming flights, the remaining 5 members of the TIME team finally made it down to McMurdo. They were held up for 2 weeks in Christchurch, which, in my opinion, isn't such a bad place to be stuck.
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| Sleep kits for all 14 members of the TIME team sitting outside the I-Hut. |
We headed back out to the I-Hut for a second Deep Field Shakedown so that the new TIME members could test out their sleep kits. The rest of us had a sleepover in the floor of the I-Hut.
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| View of White Island from the Deep Field Shakedown spot. |
All of our cargo had already been submitted to prepare for our flight out to the field, so we had to borrow two out-of-commission Scott tents stored at the I-Hut.
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| Two lonely Scott tents. One is painted black because it was used as a lab tent on a previous experiment. |
We spent the afternoon setting up our HF radio. We normally use handheld VHF radios or Iridium satellite phones for communication with Central Comms or within our science teams. However, in case of an emergency, it is USAP policy for all team to take an HF radio with them out to the deep field. The only time that you use the HF radio in the field (hopefully!) is for caroling on Christmas Eve!
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| Stretching out the HF radio antenna, with the open part of the "V" pointing in the general direction of McMurdo. |
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| Kirah (one of the mountaineers on the TIME team) showing us proper radio etiquette to talk to Central Comms in McMurdo. |
The weather on Wednesday, when we started the Shakedown, was stunning: calm, sunny, and warm. When we woke up on Thursday morning, however, the weather had changed drastically overnight: windy, foggy, and cold.
Enjoy this tale of the weather told through pictures of two outhouses:
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| Wednesday afternoon. So beautiful! Look at majestic Erebus! |
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| Wednesday evening before bed. A little cloudy. But there's Erebus! |
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| Thursday morning. Where did Erebus go???? |
That's all for now!
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