If at First You Don't Succeed....

Well, so much for getting 2 payloads off the ground in 2 days. We tried really hard, and everyone really worked their tails off, but it just wasn't meant to be. The weather held up pretty good, but in the end, it was some electronics issues that prevented us from launching. Hopefully those issues can be resolved tonight, and we will show for another launch attempt tomorrow at 11am.

One Down, Two to Go....

We FINALLY launched our first balloon today - the CREAM payload was launched at about 11am Antarctic time on Friday. It feels really good to get the first one in the air. It was a very good launch, and the winds behaved themselves pretty well. Amazingly enough, it looks like we are going to try and launch the ANITA payload tomorrow - and the weather actually looks somewhat promising. They have never launched 2 payloads in back-to-back days down here, and it is going to take an incredible amount of work by a lot of people to get things ready for another launch attempt tomorrow. Everyone keep your fingers crossed! Below are a few pictures of today's launch.

The CREAM payload hanging from the launch vehicle prior to launch - Mt Erebus in the background.

The entire flight train with the balloon being inflated.

Balloon just prior to launch

The balloon rising just after being released.

The payload being released from the launch vehicle.

Update...

Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote, but I have been really busy here. Unfortunately, we have not launched any balloons yet - the weather is not cooperating. In order to launch we need surface winds and low level winds to be under 5 mph, and that just hasn't been happening here in the last week. We have tried 4 days now to launch the ULDB test balloon, but each of these days it has turned out to be too windy. We are now switching gears somewhat and we are going to have our first launch attempt of the CREAM payload tomorrow. The CREAM payload and balloon can withstand a little more wind during launch, so hopefully we will have better luck in getting this one off.

It has been a very long and tiring week, so I have not had a lot of time to do much outside of work, but I did get an opportunity this past weekend to walk out to the end of Hut Point Peninsula. This area is only about a 3/4 mile walk from McMurdo. At the end of the peninsula is Discovery Hut. This hut was built in 1902 during one of the first expeditions to Antarctica, and is still in remarkably good condition. Much of the inside and outside is exactly how it was left 106 years ago. There are even still the mummified remains of a seal that was killed in 1902 for heat and food. The body is incredibly well preserved because of the very dry and very cold weather. Below are a few pictures from this trip. I will keep everyone updated with everything going on at work.

Discovery Hut with Ob Hill and McMurdo Station in the background

A memorial cross at the end of the peninsula. All of the men who came and built the hut eventually died trying to reach the South Pole.

A couple of Weddell seals hanging out on the sea ice. They just lay there and do nothing - not very exciting to watch.

Pressure Ridges...

Last night I got the opportunity to go on a walking tour of the pressure ridges. The pressure ridges are located near the New Zealand Antarctic base (Scott Base). They are the result of the collision of the annual sea ice and the Ross Ice Shelf. The sea ice melts (or at least thins considerably) during the summer months. When this happens, it weakens and is forced into pressure waves of ice as the ice shelf pushes against it. These waves eventually crack, and the pressure ridges are formed. They create large chunks of ice that stick up in all directions, creating an other worldly landscape. At the base of the ridges, the cracks can actually extend to the water below, creating holes for penguins and seals to come up through. Unfortunately, I saw neither on my trip, only footprints. It was definitely a very cool trip, and I will add it to the list of things that I have done down here, that I never thought I would ever get a chance to do in my life. Below are some pictures.

On the work side of things, there is a slight chance that we might launch the ULDB test balloon tomorrow evening. It looks like after tomorrow we will have an extended period of not so good weather, so everyone is working very hard to get the balloon and the payload ready in the hopes that we might be able to launch before the bad weather gets here. Everyone keep your fingers crossed.

Penguin tracks through the snow - you can see that it was sliding on it stomach and pushing with its back feet.

Me standing between 2 ridges with Mt Erebus in the background

.

Pressure ridge, with Mt Erebus (background right) and Castle Rock (background left)

I thought this one looked like a shark

Another Hang Test...

Everything here is progressing along according to schedule. Today we completed a hang test on the ANITA payload. Everything appears to be working well with the payload and it is now officially ready to fly - just waiting for the upper level winds to set up. Hopefully the winds will be acceptable for us to launch our first balloon in about 10-12 days or so (hopefully). Below is a picture of the ANITA payload hanging from the launch vehicle during today's hang test. Should have some more good pictures to post in the next couple of days. Tomorrow night I go on another tour - this one is of the pressure ridges at the edge of the ice shelf. I'm really looking forward to it.

Pathfinder Balloon Launch...

Today we launched a balloon, not one of our main payloads, but rather a Pathfinder balloon. A Pathfinder is a significantly smaller balloon that has a GPS transmitter attached to it. We launch these balloons to help confirm that upper level winds are setting up as expected. One of the main reason we come to Antarctica is that in the summer, there are fairly consistent and predictable winds in the stratosphere that we can fly the balloons in. These winds create a vortex around the South Pole around this time of year and this allows payloads to fly for around 50 days and come down still over the Antarctic continent. We have computer models of these winds between 120000ft and 130000ft, but on occasion, we need to confirm that these models are in fact correct - and that is why we launch the Pathfinder balloons. These balloons can stay up at 130000ft for several days and continually transmit their position back to us, and thus we can get a fairly accurate measurement of the winds at these heights. Below are a few pictures of the Pathfinder balloon launch.

Inflating the balloon

Releasing the balloon

The balloon ascending

Good Weather - Finally...

The really bad weather has finally ended and has been replaced (at least temporarily) by the best weather we have had since I've been in Antarctica. Today the temperature is 23, with little wind and mostly sunny skies - all in all, pretty nice. Actually seems warm outside. It does, however, look like another round of bad weather will be coming in this weekend. Hopefully it won't be as bad as this past weekend. This past storm had some pretty dramatic effects out a work, mainly in the form of snow drifts. The storm actually got quite a bit worse after we left work on Saturday. When we returned Sunday morning, we literally had to dig our way into a couple of the buildings. There were several drifts 5 feet high, and our galley was almost completely covered in snow, and it is about 9 feet tall. All of this happened in one day.

5 foot snow drift behind the building I work in

That's one of our rigging guys, Curtis, digging out the galley. The drifts on the side of the building are about 8 feet tall.

Things got back to normal at work yesterday, and we actually made quite a bit of progress towards a launch. Of course we still have to wait for the winds to properly set up, but now the CREAM payload is officially ready to be launched. Yesterday, we did a hang test on CREAM. A hang test is when we pick the payload up with the launch vehicle , hook all the electronics up, and test to make sure everything works okay. Basically the payload is hooked up and put into launch configuration - all that is missing is the balloon. The payload passed the test, and now can be launched whenever the winds set up. Below is a picture of the fully assembled CREAM payload hanging on the end of the launch vehicle. The ANITA payload is suppose to be ready for a hang test on Friday, but it looks like the weather will be too bad for that.