Randy writes:

Stayed up late, got up early, and I was ready to sleep, but the fight was canceled after a ride to the Pegasus Ice runway. The drive took about 40 min plus all the other assorted waiting. I was up at about four and e-mailing, because I figure the best state to be in on a cargo plane is asleep. After we were all loaded on, the snow started falling and for safety reasons they require 2 hours of good visibility predicted for after take-off in case the plane needs to return.

There were interesting aspect to this trip to nowhere: The plane was a Kiwi Herc and it had wheels. Apparently they can carry a lot more passengers, because the wheels can be retracted and so they have less drag than the skis. Also they weigh less than the American hercs. On our flight were ten or so survivors from the first winter-over at Scott Base from the IGY of 1957. These were interesting gentlemen and one had even traversed to the Pole with Sir Edmund Hillary.

Sleepy now and thinking about what other rich cultural aspects of McMurdo there are to explore - bowling and a video perhaps.

Both Steve and I are on the manifest for tomorrow, but Steve is now priority 0 and I have remained at 34. Very strange, but ...?

Click on any small image to retrieve a larger one...

Checking email.

Outside of the Crary Science and Engineering Center.

Helipad at McMurdo.

The NSF Chalet.

One of the US Coast Guard's Ice Breakers, either the Polar Sea or the Polar Star (we're not sure which).

Sitting on the runway and in the plane, waiting to see if they can go

More Cultural McMurdo

Coffee house.

Hospital.

Recycling bins.

Views from Crary.

A better view of the Scott Statue.

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CARA's research and education programs are supported in part by the National Science Foundation under a cooperative agreement, grant number NSF OPP 89-20223. © Copyright 1998,1999,2000 by Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica. This copyright applies to all web pages and images created by CARA. Check out CARA's organizational home page. Questions? Comments? email us at caraweb@astro.uchicago.edu Last modified Monday, 04-Dec-2000 16:40:17 CST http://astro.uchicago.edu/cara/southpole.edu/jan2000/log012800.html