August 28, 2012 - In Antarctica

Lights and passengers upon arrival at Pegasus Runway.

Well, we've finally arrived!  We left Christchurch yesterday around 3 pm, and landed around 8.  After sitting out on the runway in our transport vehicles for about a half hour, we made the hour long trek from the airfield to McMurdo Station.  By the time I got here, it was around 10 pm.  After getting my bags, putting my bed sheets on my bed, and unpacking a bit, I was in bed at 12:30 am, just to get up at 6:30 am to go to the first of two inbriefings today.  I didn't sleep very well last night, so I'm a bit tired today.

Me and John on the flight down.

The weather was -30C (-24F) when we landed, and winds were 8 knots (~9 mph).  It hasn't changed much since then.  I honestly wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived, but I found it wasn't as cold as I was expecting.  I've felt nights that cold growing up in northern WI, and when I was out camping in West Antarctica three years ago.

What I was, and still am, most impressed with is the dark.  As I said, every other time I've been here, the sun has been up 24 hours a day.  Right now, the sun rises at 9:58 am and sets at 3:51 pm, which is almost 3 hours longer than a week ago.  Being here in the darkness is pretty neat.  It makes me look at the station differently.  I don't have a lot of pictures yet of the dark and dawn/dusk, but here's one from yesterday, and I'll get some more today.

The C-17 plane I rode in on.

Today the moon was up over McMurdo Sound, and looked pretty neat!

Moon over McMurdo Sound.

Right now we're sort of in wait mode.  Our cargo won't arrive until the last flight (which is two flights from now), but we aren't allowed to fly the remote control planes we're here to fly (called UAVs, which stands for unmanned aerial vehicles) until the last flight leaves anyway.  Once the last flight for a month leaves, we will begin our flights.  Right now, we're doing all the training that we're required to do when we get here, which keeps us plenty busy.

Stay warm!