Journal

As many of you know, I’ve been working toward being a PolarTREC teacher and deploying to Antarctica for almost two years. It has been getting more and more real with each step. The first time it seemed “real” was when I received the email that said I had been selected to be interviewed. Then came the email that I had been selected to go to Antarctica. Next was the trips to Alaska for the PolarTREC orientation and two trips to meet my team in Wisconsin. The thing that has made this seem the most real has been two things, both of which came within the last two weeks!

As you will read in the next journal, I received my plane tickets for going to Antarctica.

But what really confirmed to me that this was real and actually going to happen was when the Principal Investigator of our Automatic Weather Station project, Dr. Matthew Lazzara sent us our  “RSP”  or the Research Support Plan.

RSP supply requisition
This is the Supply Requisition for the 2018 Automatic Weather Station expedition.
That has all of the “support” that our project requires from the United States Antarctic Program.
RSP Supply Requisition #2
This is the Supply Requisition (part 2) for the Automation Weather Station 2018 expedition.
The part I was most interested in was the “Field Support” (supplies) and the “Air Support” sections.
Helicopter time
This is the expected helicopter support for the 2018 Automatic Weather Station expedition.
Fixed Wing support
This is the fixed wing support expected for the 2018 Automatic Weather Stations expedition.
When I saw "Ice Axes" , "2 person survival sleeping bags", "urine bottles" and 24 hours of allocated helicopter time... suddenly, this just got REAL! Do you see anything interesting or unexpected in these lists? HOW COOL IS THIS?

Comments

Wed, 11/14/2018 - 10:30

Ashley Luce

How are you gonna keep your water in your water bottle to not freeze.

Wed, 11/14/2018 - 10:36

violet

I understand that you are attached with ropes to each other, so as not to fall into a crevasse. Are you still attached to a building as well ?

Thu, 11/15/2018 - 18:41

Mike Penn

Ashley, We will keep our water bottles inside our coats so that they don't freeze. There may be a few other places that will be warm enough. For instance, If the airplane or helicopter is still with us, that may be a good place too.

Sun, 11/18/2018 - 19:14

Mike Penn

Violet, We won't be in areas that are likely to have crevasses. There are several procedures for making sure everyone is safe. All known crevasses are marked and "mountaineers" check for crevasses in areas that are suspected.