Testing comms from the Field

We were originally scheduled to fly south from Christchurch last Friday morning, but were delayed over the weekend because the C17 has maintenence issues. But, we've now been shifted to the RNZAF Boeing 757 scheduled to fly tomorrow morning instead. Should be a pretty sweet ride, since everyone gets a comfy seat and a window. There may even be a host/hostess!

In the meantime, I've been trying to get things set up to be able to send text out from the field - we used IridiumGo last year, which allowed me to make a few short phone calls. This year, I'm adding the capability to email, and from there, to blog (which you're reading now!) So, this post is really just a test to check that all the necessary connections are in place and working so that I can update properly from the field.

Unfortunately I won't be able to send photos or video out - that'll have to wait until I'm back in normal internet coverage. But I'll work on my descriptive language to give you the best experience possible! Thanks for following along.

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet the team

Image
We’ve got a team of 12 people heading to the ice this season to complete a wide array of interdisciplinary science, with platelet ice at the heart of all the activity. There’s also another five team members who have completed all of the pre-deployment certification just in case anyone is turned back at the last minute (for example if someone is injured or tests positive for covid). Who are these people? Here’s a wee intro to the main team, in alphabetical order: Adam : I’m a camera operator and film producer, specialising in remote and extreme locations. This year I’ll be working alongside Vanessa, collecting documentary footage for The Climate Canary. In my spare time I’m keen to take the underwater ROV for a spin! Brett : I’m a marine instruments technician, and this will be my 14 th trip to Antarctica. In the field camp I’m primarily responsible for overall running of the camp and recovering the oceanographic mooring we installed last year. I’ll enjoy creating a curling sheet s
Read more

Woop woop! We got the mooring back!

Image
Updated 8-11-2022 with photos during a short visit back to Scott Base Happy days! A major and ambitious milestone has been achieved! Last season, when we were here to test the platelet coring system, we deployed a brand-new type of oceanographic mooring with an experimental design. A 'mooring' just means a string of instruments suspended through the water column and programmed to keep collecting data for as long as possible. This is standard operating procedure for ship-based oceanography but is rather a different prospect in our situation, primarily because we have non-permanent sea ice cover to contend with. It is usual for us to deploy a mooring, but to only leave it in the water for the period that we're actually in Antarctica conducting the science. We'll drill a hole in the sea ice, mount a tripod over it, then suspend a weighted line with instruments attached down into the water column. When we've completed the rest of the work, we return to the mooring sit
Read more

3rd time's a charm!

Image
Just a quick note to say we have finally arrived at Scott Base. The flight was a little late getting away this morning as there were new rules in place as to what people could include in checked luggage. But otherwise, the flight was completely without incident. It was an absolute treat to be able to enjoy the view all the way in to landing on a beautiful, still, and cloudless day. Absolutely perfect weather to arrive to. Since arriving at Scott Base around 4.00 pm, we've already been busy with an arrival brief and tour (for those who are new). Then time to find our rooms and set up beds before dinner. A meeting with the Scott Base engineering leads to plan tomorrow's deployment of the container camp followed by a team get together and a tour of our extra containers. We'll be getting straight into training tomorrow morning so that we're all set to head out to the camp on Monday.
Read more