Hello all,

It was a quiet early Sunday morning in McMurdo Station that allowed me time to quietly drink coffee and write some emails, (I know this is obvious to those that received my emails) before our team visited Scott’s 1902 Discovery Hut for a tour to learn about the ongoing progress of the Antarctica Heritage Foundation restoration efforts. The restoration is being done to stabilize the hut and to install a barrier to keep moisture from forming in and around the framework of the building, that will prevent decay and structure movement. All artifacts are being carefully curated and will be returned when the project is near completion.  Following more personal preparation and brunch (everything here is all you can eat including Frosty Boy soft-serve ice cream, so I struggle), we attended our safety and survival lectures.

One of the fundamental philosophies of effective safety and survival in the field reminded me of the Vulcan precept, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one”. To that end we discussed some key concepts taken from the National Outdoor Leadership School and NASA Astronaut Office sources to facilitate team success. “Take CARE, HELP others, Take ACTION, RESPECT your teammates, and serve the needs of the MANY (CHARM). This acronym can be thought of as the guiding mantra for good expeditionary group interactions and governs all that we do. John and Jim shared proven strategies to help handle the hazards and challenges associated with living and working in the coldest, highest (average elevation), driest, most remote location on the planet. Following our discussions John lead us in some hands on practice with rope rescue techniques, which while fun was more difficult than he made them look.

At this point we have “pulled” most of our gear and food, except for frozen food which happens Monday. All our necessaries are or have been packaged and prepared for entry into the logistics network, known as the “cargo stream.” Most of our gear and supplies travel separately before us, except for what we wear and hand carry into the field. The optimum situation then is to reunite with all our essential supplies at transition hubs and our field camp.

Our put in date is tentatively set for this Wednesday, so keep those fingers crossed as field insertion logistics are complex and subject to multiple variables. For our part, we are all eager to get to the business of searching for and recovering extraterrestrial visitors trapped in the icy dimension we call Antarctica.

On behalf of the 2013-14 ANSMET Team (Jim, John, Manavi, Alex, Morgan, and Jani)

Best Wishes to all those we left behind and are not currently laboring in the Frozen Continent,

especially my friends at McNeel Middle School, Turner Middle School, and Loves Park Grade School.