Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Antarctic Landscape

Note: This was written last night, but never posted!

I finally have a chance to post another entry here. They're trying to launch the CREAM payload at 1am so I'll be out here all night! It's been a busy week. We managed to get two payloads flight ready and got out to see some of the local sights. Here is our first flight-ready payload during a system test (left). You can see Mt. Erebus in the background.


There is me with some Emperor penguins! These pictures were taken by Henry Cathey who is here with NASA's superpressure balloon payload.


Finally, I wanted to say a few things about our daily commute. We often ride to work on a vehicle called a Delta (left). I guess it is designed for the snow, and it does do pretty well. But, it doesn't move too fast and gives a bumpy ride! We leave at 7:30 am and it takes about 40 minutes to get to our work site. I actually kind of like taking the Delta because I listen to music while gazing out at the Ross Ice Shelf....at least until the windows fog up!

After that, I look around and see everyone around me sound asleep, and usually follow suit.