News – Page 13 – ANSMET, The Antarctic Search for Meteorites

Looking for Antarctica in New Zealand

December 9, 2019

As Alex wrote in the last post, we have been together in Christchurch with rolling 24-hour delays. New Zealand is a wonderful country and spending a week in Christchurch is hardly something to complain about, except we are so very eager to get to Antarctica to search for meteorites! Our...

It’s a harsh continent

December 8, 2019

Even when you’re not even there yet. Like many expeditions that have set out for the great white continent, the ANSMET team is currently facing a delay right where it’s hurts the most – before we’ve even left civilization. We are currently counting day 5 of being delayed in...

Updates for 6 Dec: flying (or not), tiny doors and shrinking brains.

December 6, 2019

Hi everyone, In addition to Emilie’s recent post, a few other updates and notable emails have arrived at ANSMET central in the last 12 hours, so I thought I’d share. 1. John Schutt sent an email suggesting “flies in the ointment”....... “ Weather is crap and will be for another...

Analog site: meteorite hunting practice

December 6, 2019

Due to runway repairs, we've been waiting in Christchurch before heading to Antarctica. With our free time, we found a beach that may be similar to the moraine beach we will encounter at Davis-Ward! Leithfield Beach was very nicely size-sorted, with some areas of densely-packed pebbles, and allowed us...

Stuck in Christchurch and making the most of it

December 4, 2019

Well we’re stuck in Christchurch for a couple more days. The weather has been too nice in Mcmurdo which means the runway got a little slushy and needs to be re-rolled. While we’re waiting to hear back about a potential fly date, the gang is taking full advantage of...

Why the Davis Ward icefield ( and the DOM specimens) matter.

December 4, 2019

Why go back to the Davis-Ward icefields? Don't you have enough meteorites from (insert your favorite icefield name here)? That's not the most common question we get here at ANSMET central, but it just might be the most important to answer (particularly during funding season). Earlier today Dr. Kevin Righter,...

A Day of Training and Playing Tourist

December 3, 2019

Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day – 30+ hours of traveling, getting to see everyone again for the first time since meeting at boot camp, having a wonderful dinner outside in the nice weather, and then enjoying some team bonding ending in a gelato merry-go-round. It was such...

a few quick updates

December 2, 2019

Hi Everyone! Now that the holiday weekend is over, I thought I'd pass along a few updates. John and Brian remain in McMurdo, getting things together for the upcoming season. The remainder of the crew (sans Marc Caffee, who heads south later) were scheduled to leave the US on Saturday,...

Q&A with Cindy Evans

November 29, 2019

I’m wrapping up my final preparations for Antarctica, and enjoying the long weekend with my family – my kids traveled home to see me off. I am inspired by Nicole’s posting, and the awesome podcast (https://www.nasa.gov/mediacast/jpl/season-two-episode-8-diamonds-in-the-ice. So I invited my son Jacob, a journalist, to help me draft a blog...

The Things She Will Carry (to New Zealand)

November 28, 2019

As a newbie, I have been assembling and re-considering all my gear for the last couple of weeks. I have been reading and re-reading Ralph’s advice to the field team (a separate tab on this website) and lists that ANSMET veterans have shared. ANSMET veteran Barbara Cohen’s list in...

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