Tomoko Arai, 10th December 2012, McMurdo Station

Today four members of the systematic team flew out from the McMurdo base by a LC-130 aircraft, heading for Ottway Massif. The reconnaissance (recon) team heading for Klein Glacier was assigned to a back-up flight, in case that the weather condition of Ottway Massif would not allow for them to land. One day from the departure, we have “Bag Drag” procedure. All the tagged baggage, including check-in bags, hand-carry bags, and all the required gears (so called Extremely Cold Weather (ECW) clothing) need to be weighed (Picture 1). Last night, both the systematic and recon team went through that procedure, and were ready for the departure, pending the final decision on which team will go. In fact, we were not sure which team would fly until late in the morning today, which made us a bit nervous. Finally at noon, the four of the systematic team were ready to go, putting on the ECW gear, while the rest of us shared the excitement with them (Picture 2). All of us warmly saluted each other, hoping to get safely back together here in McMurdo with full of meteorites and stories. Another four of the systematic team are leaving for the same site tomorrow, and the recon team hopefully leaving on Thursday or Friday. The blue ice fields are awaiting us!

Shaun bag drag

Katie ready for scale