The first thing we noticed when we walked out of the dorm today was how warm it was! It's a balmy 1°F! Compared to the -8°F (with wind chills up to -30°F) it feels downright warm! But, some sort of weather system is moving in. It doesn't look like it will amount to too much, but it "took" Mt. Discovery away! Actually everything in the surrounding area is under "Condition 2" - which is a weather advisory. I'll talk more about weather in a subsequent journal!

Hey, who took Mt. Discovery?.... Going....

Hey, who took McMurdo Sound? .... Going....

Hey, who took.... everything? ... Gone!

The remainder of the day we spent sorting through the gear making sure that all the items that were requested were received. So far, so good! We got most of the items weighed, which needs to be done in order to give the helicopter loadmasters accurate weight counts. We are waiting for a few items before we throw everything into the large bins which will be attached to helicopters in a sling load over to the Dry Valleys.

The Cage; this is where researchers can store their field items until everything is packed up and ready to be delivered to the helo hanger.

Annika checks through the sleep kit list. We don't want to get out there with no sleeping bag!

Annika makes sure the surveying equipment fits together before we take it to the field!

Maciej and Annika with one of the ENDURANCE cases.

Maciej started to assemble the battery packs for the ENDURANCE (Environmentally Non-Disturbing Under-ice Robotic ANtarctic Explorer). This is the robot that Peter will be using to map the lake dimensions under the West Lobe of Lake Bonney. The robot will also map temperature, conductivity, light levels, chlorophyll-a, pH and more throughout the entire lake. It's an exciting project and everyone is very excited to get the robot up and running! You can read more about ENDURANCE at: http://www.evl.uic.edu/endurance.

Endurance underwater; photo credit: Stone Aerospace

Endurance pool test; photo credit: Stone Aerospace http://www.stoneaerospace.com/

First, we had to unload the batteries from their shipping crates; they're heavy!

Annika and Maciej lifting a battery; it's heavy!

We had a little trouble getting the "lids" off because of the pressure packed seal. We pulled and pulled, but the lids wouldn't budge!

Maciej pretends to take a hammer and pry bar to the lid; just kidding Peter!

A couple 10/32 screws did the trick with ease! We screwed the screw through to the other side and the threads did the separation work for us; this was very clever!

The lid opens quite nicely using the screws as "pushers"!

We gently pulled the battery out of the casing.

Gently now!

3 little pigs batteries!

Maciej gives the battery a serious inspection!

 

They have a pulse!

They are coming to life! (He's kidding with the hammer!)

Maciej plans his next move.

Now - for the rest of the robot!

You can also check out my journals and pictures from previous seasons at:
http://www.ryejrhigh.org/ellwood