Discovery Hut
Today was a glorious day on all fronts!
At 7:28 am, we learned that Brian’s Twin Otter flight to the Davis Ward field area had been activated! He was picked up promptly by a shuttle at 7:45 and then took off before 10:00. The Team was absolutely exuberant about reaching this awesome milestone after so many delays. The weather was favourable for most of the flight, but it began to worsen as they approached the landing time. Upon arrival, Brian reported overcast conditions, 25-knot winds, blowing snow, and temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius. However, he and Amelia successfully erected some tents and checked in with Central Comms, officially marking the beginning of our field season!
The plan is for Brian and Amelia to start grooming an airstrip in the ice that is suitable for a larger Basler aircraft to land on. It will need to be 6000 feet long. They estimate that this will require at least three days of hard work. But once completed, the rest of the team and cargo can be transported to the site and the meteorite recovery can begin. We’re hopeful that those flights will begin early next week.
In the meantime, the remainder of the team enjoyed a day of perfect weather at McMurdo! Minako, Lauren, and I each had some solo outdoor recreation, Daniela spent time reading and thinking while gazing at the distant mountains, Robert and Jon had productive workdays in the beautiful Crary Library, and Jim worked on logistics for the coming weeks. In the evening, we all gathered for a special tour of the historic Discovery Hut, built by Robert Falcon Scott in 1902 during the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904. It was then re-used by several subsequent Antarctic explorers of the early twentieth century.
We learned that the Hut had actually been a bit of a failure. It was prefabricated in Australia by designers who were unfamiliar with extreme cold weather and was then transported in pieces to Antarctica for assembly. The structure features useless verandas on three sides, which ended up trapping snow and blocking several side entrances. Further, the walls are only insulated by a relatively thin layer of felt stuck between two layers of wooden planks.
This turned out to be extremely insufficient and the hut was apparently unbearably cold and windy – much of Scott’s crew refused to use the Hut and continued sleeping on the ship. As a result, it was mainly used as a storehouse for gear and food, such as flour, cocoa, coffee, biscuits, potatoes, tinned meat, and seal blubber. Many of these items remain on the shelves in good condition due to the cold temperatures, however the mound of seal blubber has turned rancid and left us all holding our noses.
All in all, a very positive day!
-Erin, beginning to get nervous (but also VERY excited) about the impending cold!