We had a great second day in McMurdo!
The day started at the Berg Field Center (the “BFC”) to sort through our sleep kits, kitchen boxes, and tent boxes to make sure we’re ready to eat, sleep, and survive in the field! The sleeping bags are rated to minus 60...
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Yesterday, the ANSMET crew finally arrived on the Ice after several delays, including one final one. We boarded the bus and headed to the airport across the street from the terminal.
We pulled up to the aircraft, only to turn back around because of a one hour delay. A mini...
When I got up this morning I found I had received the following text:
Yes, that is a text from McMurdo, sent by Minako! We had heard it was now possible to send and receive a few texts per day from McMurdo (just text, no photos), but it didn't...
For an old fart like me, it's amazing to get near-real-time updates. Two pics from Minako texted to me at the moment of departure (about 4:30 pm EST, 10:30 am CHC time)!
As Dr. Righter reports, their ride is the legendary Kiwi Herc. Slow (about 7.5 hrs minimum), noisy...
As of a few minutes ago, the team finished their final pre-flight briefing. Here's hoping they are in the air soon and safely on their way to McMurdo!
-Ralph
Hi everyone, this is yet another post that's mostly a photo-dump.
When the team found out two days ago they'd have the full day off Wednesday (their Wednesday, not mine in the US), they rented a car for a day trip to Lake Tekapo, about 3 hrs drive SW...
No, that's not a euphemism. At least I don't think it is.
Apparently on their day off yesterday, four of the gang went off to a winery for a tasting, a picnic AND to feed the eels. That is definitely a new one for ANSMET field party members in...
Quick picture-dump here; the team's southbound flight from Christchurch to McMurdo has been delayed 24 hours. So in the absence of better news, here's some pics taken during some moments of tourism yesterday...........
-Ralph, who is a wee bit jealous of the gang today.
Hi everyone, time for me to share a little bit of news from Christchurch. The remaining 7 members of the field team (besides Brian) are all there, and are making good progress. Here's snippets from a few emails....
Minako writes: ".....We passed COVID tests (woo-hoo!!) and got all...
Jim received this email earlier today (the day before the team departs for Antarctica):
" Hi Jim,
NSF has finished our review of the ANSMET procedures for documentation, collection, and curation of meteorites for the 2023-2024 season and found them to be in compliance with the regulations in 45 C.F.R. part...