3 October 2011 Preparations have been made...

What has everyone else been doing at McMurdo?

Okay, so I hope that you have seen that conducting science at McMurdo is a very busy endeavor. We put in full days and full weeks between drilling holes, diving, collecting, sieving, counting, culturing, and lab work. However, this represents the work of our small team and a few other small teams assisting us. What is everyone else in McMurdo doing?

Main Body

October 3rd marks the beginning of what is known as "Main Body". This represents the arrival of the main body of scientists and workers who will operate McMurdo Station and conduct all the science during the Antarctic summer. WinFly is usually a very quiet time in terms of science and this year has been no exception. There were only two scientific groups conducting work on the sea ice. On the first flight of Main Body alone, five science groups will arrive! So, the whole point of WinFly is to deploy a small group of workers to prepare the station for summer operation. They've tackled a lot this WinFly. Here are a few examples:

Mechanical Equipment Center

Remember, Tony Buchanan? Tony explained a lot to us about Antarctic transportation in two journals. You can view them here and here. The MEC has been very busy preparing all of the mechanical equipment that will be deployed to the field this summer, from drills to snow machines, compressors to generators. The MEC has been working hard to ensure that when the scientists and field personnel arrive that the equipment is ready to go.

Field Safety Training Program

The FSTP folks have been busy preparing for all of the scientists and personnel who will need training and knowledge of the sea ice. You saw the training that we went through, both field safety training and sea ice school. Every person doing work on the sea ice needs both of those classes.

Dive Locker

In addition to assisting us with all diving operations, the Dive Locker Staff had to open the Dive Locker and set up all equipment for the incoming science groups that require diving support. That involves filling tanks, servicing regulators, drilling holes, and even collecting some organisms. The Dive Locker has been one busy work center!

Helicopter Services

A lot of field camps and science groups require support from the helicopter services group. During WinFly, helicopter mechanics have been hard at work preparing the two A-Star and two Bell-212 helicopters for summer operations. I had a chance to check out the helicopters just before they're inspected and approved for another field season. The pilots will arrive shortly and then flights can begin early next week.

Special thanks to Ron in the Helo Hangar for a fabulous tour!

Fleet Operations

Called Fleet Ops for short, this has been one of the busiest groups at McMurdo Station. You might remember that when we arrived, we had a 16-mile drive to McMurdo Station from the permanent ice shelf runway (called Pegasus). Well, there are so many flights during the summer, that 16 miles commute would be very inefficient. So what do you do?

Fleet Ops has been working pretty much 24 hours a day, 7 days a week preparing a runway on the sea ice. That's right! The next plane to arrive at McMurdo will land on a frozen ocean. Of course, it takes a lot of work to build a runway and especially one that is made out of ice.

Other Work Centers

I've only listed a few here, but the same story applies to every work center: from the Food Room to the Berg Field Center to the Carpenters to Fuels to the Galley and all the other work centers I am forgetting to mention. Everyone has been preparing for the start of the Antarctic summer.

Delayed

Here's the funny part. Mother Nature had other plans for us. As we wait to welcome the first flights of Main Body, it is snowing here and we are under Condition 2. No flights for us! I guess there's always tomorrow.