Antarctica 2012: September 24, 2012

Hi all - first of all, it's my little man's 7 month birthday today! We only have one more week before we are scheduled to head home, and I'm looking forward to seeing him and Paul and the rest of my family soon! My mom, Paul's mom, and his stepfather have been super helpful helping take care of Aiden, and I'm eternally grateful.

My boys.

We've been keeping busy the last few days. We got another pair of flights up to TNB on Saturday night. We did a similar flight pattern then as we had done the past few days. I didn't go out for the launch, but I did go out for the landing. It was really great to see two flights go out, and two flights come back.

The first UAV to return home.

The second one landing.

Here's a video of the landing.

The three flight days we've had have given us some really great data because we've been able to see the evolution of a wind event there from start to finish. It's given us some really interesting data to analyze and understand the process of the polynya opening in the region. We've started looking at the data already, and it's pretty exciting.

Other than that, the weather has kept us on hold the last few days, but we're hoping to fly the next couple. Yesterday, John gave the Sunday science lecture on station so that the community could learn about some of the science they are here to support.

I was so riveted by the talk I forgot to take a picture until the end,.

I'm starting to shift my schedule back to a more normal one...or at least one during the days. In some ways I liked the night shift because I'm more productive when it's quieter, but it will be nice to actually see some people again.

I got out a few nights ago to get some night photos, which I'll share below. It's interesting that in the short time I've been here we went from it being pitch dark at 3 am to there being a fair bit of light at that time of night. Regardless, I got to see some more southern lights, which is always a welcome treat.