Monday, December 1, 2008

McMurdo Station - Dec 1, 2008 - Logan

Logan Mitchell
Date: 12-1-2008
Location: McMurdo Station, Antarctica
Time: 11pm
Latitude: 77°50'46.42"S
Longitude: 166°39'59.78"E
Elevation: 34m (112’)
Temperature: -8 °C ( °F)
Wind speed: 7-12 knots km/h ( mp/h)
Wind Chill: -12 °C (°F)
Visibility: unrestricted
Clouds: partly cloudy
Breakfast: Eggs & potatoes
Lunch: Sandwiches
Supper: Chili & roast beef & kiwi

We have been quite busy all day today getting gear together & running errands. It was really nice that Ken had jobs for us to do all around town because it forced us to get to know our way around town a little bit and meet people. For example, I went & checked out the satellite phone for the WAIS Divide camp for the season. I got to meet all the folks who issue communications devices to field camps and learned a little about all of the different things they have.

The rest of the core handling crew flew on a C-17 and arrived this evening, so once again we are all together! During dinner the conversation was about how old the food we were eating might be. Most of the food here is brought by a huge freighter that comes once a year sometime in February when the sea ice has broken up. McMurdo is stocked so that it would have enough food to last ~3 years in case one year the resupply couldn’t make it due to an iceberg blocking the sea channel to McMurdo. In any case, we found out from an unofficial source that the veggies we were eating were probably 1-7 years old and that the dry goods (flour, sugar, etc) were probably older. I wonder how old the oldest food that has been consumed here in McMurdo is? Now I understand why people are so excited when fresh fruit is flown in from New Zealand. McMurdo also has a greenhouse, but I don’t know how much of our food comes from it.

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