Thursday morning broke cold, windy, and snowy. Visibility was poor enough that the mountains on the other side of the bay couldn’t be seen. It was the first time we’ve had real snow since I arrived. It seems like it should always be snowing in Antarctica, but this continent is actually an frozen desert, where wind and blowing snow are much more prevalent than new snow.
The morning was pretty standard, as we continued plugging away at POLAR ICE version 2 functionality and worked on getting the new local server up and running. Everything is ready to go for the new server except for the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate. This makes the application secure, and since it holds sensitive information it needs to be secured even on the intranet. The network ops guys here and the tech ops guys back in Denver are working on getting us the proper certificate; once that’s ready it will just be a matter of finishing up documentation and announcing to the public that it’s ready to go.
Jim Scott joined us for lunch again, and we had a nice long conversation. As usual, Jim & I talked a lot about cycling and upcoming events. He’s created a spreadsheet of all the rides he wants to do this summer and is sending it around to the rest of the cyclists in the company. He’s set a goal of finishing the Triple Bypass in less than eight hours this year, and I hope to join him in that quest. We also talked a bit about cycling jersey design concepts, and that reminded me that I haven’t done anything yet with the design ideas we discussed a couple of weeks ago. I guess I know what I’ll be doing on Sunday.
The conversation then shifted to the observations we’ve made about the culture of the company here in McMurdo as compared to Denver. Life at the Denver office and life at the McMurdo office couldn’t be more different. It doesn’t feel “corporate” here like it does in Denver; everyone shares the same feeling of excitement, that we’re all in this together, on the frontier of the new age of Antarctic Exploration. That got me thinking yet again about Antarctic History, thus the lesson at the bottom of this post.
The afternoon was fairly uneventful. I pulled some deployment data for the housing folks, and they seemed to appreciate that, then it was time for ethics training. All full-time RPSC employees here on station need to attend Raytheon corporate ethics training. About halfway through it I realized I had already had this training in Denver, but didn’t want to get up and leave so I guess now I’m twice as ethical as I once was.
Meanwhile, Scott did remember taking the ethics training and therefore took a moment to check with the recreation office to see what the scoop is with the band room. Apparently it is already reserved through Saturday night, but we think we might put our names on the list for some evening next week. How often does one get a chance to rock the ice shelf in Antarctica? It’s too bad I don’t remember how to play much, but I’m sure we’ll have a good time. Scott plays acoustic guitar, I dink around on bass and drums, and Josh plays Baritone sax. We’re gonna be huge.
After dinner we decided to attend the Coffee House Cinema presentation of Cannibal! The Musical. The Coffee House has Cinema Night a couple times a week where they’ll play a DVD in a darkened section of the jamesway and it’s kind of a nice break from the constant action of the station. This selection was a project that Trey Parker created while he was attending film school at the University of Colorado. You may know that Trey is one of the South Park creators, and his cohort, Matt Stone, was one of the stars in this film.
The Musical is the true story of the only person convicted of cannibalism in America - Alferd Packer. The sole survivor of an ill-fated trip to the Colorado Territory, he tells his side of the harrowing tale to news reporter Polly Prye as he awaits his execution. And his story goes like this: While searching for gold and love in the Colorado Territory, he and his companions lost their way and resorted to unthinkable horrors, including toe-tapping songs!
It was easily one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen, but there were quite a few good laughs and it was a decent way to spend the evening. For those of you that have seen it, I hope you’re having a shpedoinkal day.
That’s pretty much it for Thursday. Some days we have great Antarctic adventures, and other days are essentially going to the office, only in the cold, wind and snow of Antarctica. To fill up a little free space, here is some more Antarctic history. I’ve gotten some good response back from the history tidbits I’ve added in previous posts, so here is a synopsis of some of the more important Antarctic Expeditions, taken from antarctic-circle.org:
JAMES COOK IN THE RESOLUTION AND ADVENTURE (1772-75)
During the course of this, his second, voyage, Cook in the Resolution with Tobias Furneaux in the Adventure became the first to circumnavigate the globe at high southern latitude and cross the Antarctic Circle; Cook achieved a new farthest south record of 71° 10' S and proved that no previous land sightings constituted an Antarctic continent. He rediscovered, named, and made a first landing on South Georgia and discovered all but three northerly islands in the South Sandwich Islands.
JAMES CLARK ROSS IN THE EREBUS AND TERROR (1839-43)
Ross's Antarctic voyage of 1839-43 was the most important since the circumnavigation of Cook and the discovery of South Shetland by William Smith. Among all Antarctic voyages and expeditions it remains preeminent. In the first season, the two ships Erebus and Terror became the first to penetrate the pack ice engirdling the Ross Sea. The Ross Sea, Transantarctic Mountains, Possession, Coulman, Franklin, Beaufort, and Ross Islands, and the Ross Ice Shelf were discovered, and landings were made on Possession and Franklin Islands. During the second season, Ross bettered his own farthest south of the previous season: 78° 9.5' S at the face of the Ross Ice Shelf. In the third season, in the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula, Paulet, Snow Hill, and Cockburn Islands, and the Danger Islands were discovered. The men made extensive and important magnetic, botanical, zoological, and other scientific observations. The expedition came close to destruction at the end of the second season when the ships, in foul weather during the middle of the night, collided and sustained severe damage to the rigging as they drifted toward colossal icebergs in their lee.
ROBERT F. SCOTT AND THE NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION (1901-4)
Scott's British expedition was the most important Antarctic venture since Ross. Members made enormous contributions to every relevant branch of science and produced the first comprehensive photographic and pictorial surveys of the Ross Sea area. Edward VII Peninsula was discovered during an eastward exploration of the Ross Ice Shelf in the first season. The party built a hut at Hut Point in McMurdo Sound, discovered two islands and two peninsulas plus the extention of the Transantarctic Mountains south of Ross Island, and wintered farther south than any prior expedition. They discovered the first emperor penguin breeding colony (at Cape Crozier) and described the species' midwinter breeding behavior. They made the first significant penetrations into the Antarctic interior: Scott, Edward A. Wilson, and Ernest H. Shackleton traveled over the Ross Ice Shelf to 82° 16.5' S; Albert Armitage, second in command, led a party that made the first ascent onto the polar plateau, via the Ferrar Glacier. A relief voyage under William Colbeck in the Morning reached winter quarters during the second summer, but the Discovery could not escape the ice. In the third summer, another relief voyage sailed under Colbeck in the Morning and Harry MacKay in the Terra Nova. The Discovery was freed with explosives and help from the relief vessels, favorable wind, and current.
In one way or another, every subsequent Antarctic expedition during the heroic period owed a significant measure of its origin, design, and inspiration to Scott's expedition. It was the great hinge on which all subsequent Antarctic investigations turned.
ERNEST H. SHACKLETON AND THE BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION (1907-9)
Shackleton and his men achieved a full measure of greatness on this remarkable expedition that was supported mostly by private contributions. The party sailed in the Nimrod. After establishing a base at Cape Royds in McMurdo Sound and constructing a hut, members of the fifteen-man shore party made the first ascent of Mount Erebus, discovered the Beardmore Glacier, attained a new farthest south of 88° 23' on the polar ice cap (an advance that constituted the greatest single gain toward either geographical pole), and were the first to approach the south magnetic pole located high in the Victoria Land interior. In addition, Shackleton was the first to bring motorized land vehicles to the Antarctic, and the men produced Antarctica's first book, Aurora Australis.
ROALD AMUNDSEN AND THE NORWEGIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION (1910-12)
Amundsen originally intended an expedition to the Arctic and borrowed the Fram from the great Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen. When Frederick Cook and Robert Peary announced the results of their North Pole exploits, Amundsen secretly changed his plan for the South Pole, informing only a few of his party, and telling the rest only just before the final departure from Madeira. All consented to proceed. Science was never intended as part of the program. A base was established in the Bay of Whales, and supply depots were laid in late summer and early autumn as far as 82° S by dog and sledge. After an uneventful winter, Amundsen made too early a start in spring and had to abort the journey.
An ensuing altercation between Amundsen and Hjalmar Johansen caused the leader to cut Johansen and two others from the polar party, reducing its size to five; the three eliminated men were assigned to explore Edward VII Peninsula. Amundsen's party reached the South Pole before Scott, … closely circumscribing the spot from 14 to 17 December 1911. The men arrived back to base safely after a 99-day journey of 1,860 miles.
SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION - THE BRITISH ANTARCTIC (TERRA NOVA) EXPEDITION (1910-13)
Scott once again planned a large-scale scientific expedition with the South Pole the crown jewel. On the way south in Melbourne, Scott received a telegram from Amundsen: a race for the South Pole was on. McMurdo ice forced Scott to select Cape Evans, less favorable than Hut Point, as his hut site. Supply depots were laid in the remaining first season as far as 79° 29' S, while a Western Party explored the dry valleys and Koettlitz Glacier. An Eastern Party, intending to explore Edward VII Peninsula, found Amundsen in the Bay of Whales, and, to avoid the Norwegians, headed for the Victoria Land coast, renamed themselves the Northern Party, and were left at Cape Adare where they spent the first winter doing research. The main party at Cape Evans spent a stimulating winter; during that season, Edward A. Wilson, "Birdie" Bowers, and Apsley Cherry-Garrard accomplished a harrowing sledging journey to Cape Crozier to collect emperor penguin eggs for study.
The southern party-sixteen men, two motor cars, ten ponies, and twenty-three dogs-set out in spring toward the South Pole. Parties of various composition turned north as they were no longer needed; from 4 January 19112, Scott, Wilson, Bowers, "Titus" Oates, and "Taff' Evans went on alone. On 16 January,, they discovered they had been forestalled by Amundsen, and the following day arrived despondent at the South Pole. The journey northward became the final act of a great tragedy as Evans, then Oates, then the remaining three died in turn. Their story was learned only by the good fortune of a search party the following spring. The eloquence of Scott's diary, last letters, and "Message to the Public" assured him legendary status and immortality.
Meanwhile, a second Western Party had been relieved by the ship; the ship's company had taken the Northern Party to Terra Nova Bay to conduct further research, but ice blocked the ship from relieving them. The six men of the Northern Party were marooned with scant food and no winter garb. They survived in a snow cave under appalling circumstances.
ERNEST H. SHACKLETON AND THE IMPERIAL TRANSANTARCTIC EXPEDITION (1914-17)
The South Pole having been achieved by Amundsen and Scott, Shackleton envisioned one great remaining Antarctic conquest: crossing the continent via the South Pole. Shackleton intended that a Weddell Sea party would reach the southernmost recess of the Weddell Sea in the Endurance and that several members would cross the continent by their own efforts as far as the foot of the Beardmore Glacier, after which they would be aided by supply depots left by a separate Ross Sea shore party landed in McMurdo Sound by the Aurora. In the course of carrying out these plans, Shackleton discovered the Caird Coast in the Weddell Sea that linked Coats Land and the Luitpold Coast.
Then, before a landing was accomplished, the Endurance was trapped in the ice: it was eventually crushed, and it sunk eight months later. The party of twenty-eight men lived in camps on the ice for another five months, then struggled at sea in three lifeboats and arrived at Elephant Island. A party of six sailed 850 miles in stormy autumn seas in the open boat James Caird to South Georgia; three of the men, Shackleton, Frank Worsley, and Tom Crean accomplished the first crossing of the uncharted island interior to reach the whaling station at Stromness Harbor. After three unsuccessful attempts to relieve the marooned party at Elephant Island, Shackleton, with the assistance of Chileans in the Yelcho, rescued his men, who by now had been stranded for over four months.
On the other side of the continent, members of the Ross Sea shore party under Aeneas Mackintosh established their base at Cape Evans. The Aurora was stripped of its moorings in late autumn before all supplies for the shore party were landed; the ship went adrift and was nearly wrecked. The ten men ashore succeeded in laying the depots despite deprivations and the deaths of three men: all their efforts were for naught. The Aurora was repaired in New Zealand and placed under the command of John King Davis; with Shackleton aboard, the ship arrived at Cape Evans to rescue the seven stranded survivors.
