Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 12/15/2011 - 05:41
Forums
Space Weather Monitoring on the Antarctic Plateau

Austen: With all the smaller accomadations, do you ever feel chlostrophobic?

Joaquin: What do the snowmobiles run on? Since you are down there learning about the affects of pollution, is there anything that can be done to prevent causing harm to the environment?

Savannah: How often does the satellite pass over?

Rupert (Robert): If you are outside, how fast do you have to drink your coffee in order for it to stay warm?

We hope you are doing great. Everyone misses you and can't wait for you to come back.

Thu, 12/15/2011 - 12:30

Michelle Brown

Hello Period 2!
Great questions!
Austen: The accommodations here are much smaller, however I don't feel claustrophobic at all! In fact, I prefer the Jamesway room to my dorm in McMurdo (I know, it's strange!). It's nice to have my own little nook!
Joaquin: The snowmobiles run on gasoline. Great insight about the environment! I've had a few conversations about reducing pollution with people here. Sadly, we do use a lot of fossil fuels to run our vehicles and heat our buildings. There are small changes happening though. There are a few windmills between McMurdo Station and Scott Base (the New Zealand station), which supplement our energy consumption. When I visited the power plant, the windmills were contributing 18% towards our energy usage, and on really windy days, they can contribute up to 48% of our usage! I do not know if there are plans to use alternative energy here at the South Pole station, but we do have solar panels around and everyone is expected to use as little energy as possible. For example, we are expected to shut off lights whenever we aren't using them, and a really big impact is water. We have to create water here, so using less of it is important. We are only allowed two 2-minute showers a week! (This has been hard for me--but I promise I'll shower before I return to the classroom!). We are constantly being updated on how much water and energy we are using, and there is a chart to make sure we are not going over our budget.
Savannah: The satellites pass by twice a day for a few hours. It changes by 4 minutes every day. There are two satellites: one weaker one and one stronger one. The weaker one typically comes by in the morning (from 5 a.m. or so to mid-morning) and the stronger one comes by in the afternoon from about 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. Of course, this is always changing slightly!
Rupert (Robert): Hmmm. I haven't yet tried that one... I do keep water with me, but I keep it on the inside of my jacket so it doesn't get too cold. I'll have to test out the amount of time it takes for hot coffee (or hot cocoa) to cool down!
I'm doing great but can't wait to come back to sunny, warm! Austin! See you soon!