Slashdot Mirror
White Christmas In Antarctica
The idea of a white Christmas may seem magical for many of us, but Science Daily asks you to "spare a thought for a team of scientists forgoing the festive season to take part in a novel campaign being carried out in one of the most inhospitable regions on Earth to support ESA's CryoSat mission." Plenty of people cooped up in the upside-down parts seem to find good ways to amuse themselves; I am especially fond of this introduction to Condition One weather, and Cops McMurdo. If anyone is reading this down there, I hope you're having a nice holiday.
I just came down from the (sadly penguin-free) summit of Mauna Kea - where we too are having a White Christmas this year - and would like to wish my fellow scientists in Antarctica a Merry (White) Christmas in Hawaiian. :)
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Sure the isolation sounds terrible but apparently those clever scientists have figured out a good way to pass the time, huddle up with other researchers, feeling cold, and needing warmth...
EvilCON - Made Famous by
Whenever I see something about McMurdo, it reminds me of when I was in high school (in the early seventies) and had bought my first shortwave radio. Back then, there were no satellite links to McMurdo, so a lot of traffic was done with amateur radio stations utilizing a device called a "phone patch". There was a net of amateur stations in the US, and when someone stationed at McMurdo wanted to talk to their family or other loved ones, the ham that was closest to the family in the US would call them on the telephone and then "patch" the telephone to his transmitter and receiver. The parties could then talk to each other, although the folks on the telephone side of the conversation had to remember that it was actually half-duplex. Mostly it was pretty mundane traffic, but every once in a while things would get hot and heavy and a session of phone sex would occur. The only difference was that everyone in the US (and any other area that had propagation) listening to that frequency (usually in the 7 MHz ham band) could hear all the details. It was thought that the new wives were not aware that their conversation was public since after all, they were just talking on the phone. And it was also thought that the husbands at McMurdo just didn't care (I don't think women were allowed to go to McMurdo at that time). Good stuff for a teenager long before the Internet, cell phones, cable TV and other diversions.
I wintered over at South Pole last year. I'm still on extended recuperation holiday, actually, and just returned to Christchurch where all of my gear was stored (thanks, Windsor hotel).
Summer is pretty easy on the Ice, actually. Just wear sunglasses when you get up to pee, or your body will jolt into alertness with the blazing sun. Plus, you're roach your retinas.
Everyone said it's the last month or two of a year's service that really tests people, and brings out the stupidity. Boy, were they right.
It's not as hard as some people will make it out to be. We get to keep out appendices in (unless like a certain SatComm Eng I know, it goes bad midway through your season). Hardest part is not punching the asshats who try to provoke confrontation (gotta keep that completion bonus), and dealing with the government technology and procurement decisions, which would royally piss off you open source peeps.
Easy for me to say, I didn't break anything nor did I have anything broken for me. Two situations which we did observe this year.
All the best to the new crew toughing it out. Enjoy the cabernet while it lasts. Don't break CommsShop Theater and don't blame me for the current state of affairs! :-D
And keep in mind that the festive period of Antarctica is not Giftmas or even New Years (too much work to do, too many bosses around), but the Midwinter, celebrated when you are halfway through your 'tour of duty', and the days are the coldest.
Non-Linux Penguins ?
I was at McMurdo 95-96, for 13 months ( Winfly, Summer, Winter, Summer). Yeah, I agree that summer is not that hard. More like: its great. The mating scenarios there are called ice-marriages, ice-wives, ice-husbands. Thats the enduring ones. Then there are the thousands of serial relationship hook-ups. Some got through the winter by logging amazing amounts of hours in bed (WITH SOMEONE ELSE!!). Then there was the whole girls-nude-in-suana-looking-for-a-hookup, thing. Ahem, and a lot of the guys and girls are geeks. My own account is written here: http://lanceville-antarctica.appspot.com/?page=antarctica-alaska As I recall, Christmas at McMurdo was a lot of fun, plenty of people, parties, and the weather is usually great.