Left to right: Emilie, Alex, Brian, Nicole, Cindy, Marc, Lauren in McMurdo’s cafeteria.

We are delighted to welcome Marc to McMurdo! He was not delayed at all in New Zealand (only 2 days there), arrived on the continent last night and immediately began training. Meanwhile, we have finished our training and final cargo preparations and are now waiting to deploy to the field. The first step is to get a couple of people out to begin the field preparations.  We have been tracking the flight operations and weather and we’re getting anxious that we wouldn’t make it out of balmy McMurdo for a while. But Marc’s presence has brought us some luck! This morning Johnny and Jim caught a flight to Davis Ward. This was after 5+ mornings of Johnny waking up early, only to learn that his flight had been cancelled. They will begin grooming the runway as soon as they get set up. Once the runway is ready, likely in 3-4 days, there’s a chance that the rest of us and our gear can be transported to meteorite-rich territory! The team members remaining in McMurdo are Lauren, Nicole, Cindy, Alex, Marc, Brian, and Emilie; pictured together after a hearty dinner at the galley.

Alex and Lauren on the Observation Hill trail 

Lauren, Nicole, Cindy, Alex, and Emilie decided to explore and get some exercise today. We went on a hiking adventure around Observation Hill to New Zealand’s Scott Base (and to visit the store on base); walking about 3 miles along a cliff edge in -15-degree F windchill to buy a bunch of t-shirts, postcards, and penguin earrings. It was a successful mission and we were exposed to different views of the surrounding mountains. As we were trudging uphill through the cold wind, most of us were thinking about how much worse the weather is going to be at Davis Ward. This helped us to mentally prepare for the upcoming conditions.

-Cindy, Emilie, and Nicole from windy McMurdo station, Antarctica