Walkin' On The Moon

The flight (my second on the C-130) to Summit yesterday went off without a hitch. This ride there were fewer scientists (only 13) which in theory should've made for a more comfortable ride with respect to leg room. However, to our surprise, many of the spare seats turned out to be occupied; joining us on the journey to ice sheet were some non-science distinguished guests. Just who, you ask? Oh just the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark. No big deal. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to shake her hand. She got a special seat up by the cockpit, was wisked away for a camp tour upon our arrival, and was gone within an hour and a half. Still, pretty rad; I felt peaceful just being in her diplomatic presence.

A two-hour flight brought us from the damp, cool coast, to the dry, cold Arctic. Words cannot even begin to describe what I felt stepping off the plane and feel every time I step outside up here. Sure, I've seen pictures of the Arctic and know a bit about it's characteristics, but experiencing it is a whole different story. It's more beautiful than I could ever imagine. It's sparkles with a cleanliness that can only be found in a place that has been virtually unaffected (directly) by humans. I imagine this is what those who've had the luxury to visit the moon felt when they stepped off the shuttle for the first time; to find places so unadulterated and undeveloped by humankind is truly special these days. The only difference between me and the astronauts is that instead of black space and grey moon-rock, I see blue sky and brilliant white snow spanning into forever.


The one problem I do have with Summit is the altitude. Yesterday I was a hurtin' unit, suffering from some mild altitude sickness. It's gotten better today but I'm still battling some lethargy and a small headache. Three cheers for ibuprofen! Because the sudden jump up in altitude can be hard on the body, the new arrivals were allowed, and even strongly encouraged, to take it easy yesterday and to not jump right into work. Instead, us Summit newbies munched on warm, fresh-baked cinnamon raisin cookies and slugged down water. These cookies were unbelievable! I had been told the legend of the Summit food but never could I have imagined such delicious eats were possible in the middle of nowhere. Amazing cookies were followed by amazing dinner (pesto pasta with fresh mozzarella and tomato, spicy italian sausage, green beans, salad, and fresh bread) and subsequent meals have been equally impressive. What's even more awesome is that binging is encouraged up here; the altitude plus the temperature increases your daily required calorie intake which means eating a ton is essential. My kind of place!

Dinner was followed by a brief meeting and some internet-ing/skyping. I sauntered out to my tent around 11:00pm absolutely exhausted but prepared not to sleep much partially because of the cold but mostly because of the altitude. I had already set up my Arctic oven, which was impressively warm earlier in the day, so all I had to do was crawl into bed. I slept like a baby. Ok, so not really, but definitely MUCH better than I anticipated. I was nice n' toasty the whole night. I know right?! I didn't think this was possible in a tent in the Arctic but it was and much better than the humid, hot nights I left behind a couple weeks ago. Here's a picture of my humble abode for the next few weeks.


Perhaps I will name it or decorate it, ya know, to make it feel more like home.

I woke up this morning just before 8:30am and, after breakfast, went to right work. It was a busy day. First up was a walk out to Sat Camp, where we're (me and my advisor, Jack along with a few good folks from Georgia Tech-Zach and Dave-and a woman from Brown who we're collaborating with, Dorothy) are located. It's a touch over a half mile one-way out there so I'm sure to get some good exercise while up here. Our instrument is housed in the Balle building which is essentially a freezer, but instead of freezing items we take advantage of it's insulating powers and heat it up. The MC-IC is sampling soluble gases in the atmosphere. Since the MC-IC is automated and can run by itself, we spend much of our time doing work in an adjacent, and roomier, building we have affectionately named the tomato, an appropriate name if you consider the picture below.

While there was no Summit science planned for the morning, I had set out to get some work on another project I've been chipping away at for a while. These productive plans were quickly sidelined when Zach informed me of snowmobile training back at main camp. I had never ridden on let alone driven a snowmobile and thought that, since they represent the main way equipment is moved around the camp, it'd probably be a good idea that I learn how to. After a 15-minute run through on their operation, I hopped on one of the Ski-Doos for a quick test run. It was fun! I would consider purchasing one if they weren't a lot of money and an unnecessary source of pollution. The later may be remedied soon though; a recent graduate from Clarkson who is up here was part of a team of students that designed an electric snowmobile. The ride is up here with him and, though it has yet to make an appearance, I'm hoping to hop on at some point.

Snowmobiling was followed lunch then by a tour of the camp led by Jack. I learned a bit about the other science happening here at Summit. One group is looking at snow grain size and shape and how the affects how reflective the snow is, that is, how those properties of snow affect it's albedo. Another group is interested in the clouds up here in the Arctic and is using radar as well as a few other instruments to learn about the droplets of clouds and their phases (ice versus water). A third group I met with today is measuring various CFC's in the atmosphere. They've actually been monitoring this ozone-destroying species (think ozone hole) since the 1970's. Very cool and very important work and a very unique place to do it!

We did some cool work ourselves later this afternoon but unfortunately a post on it must wait; it's 11:30pm and thus bed time. Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal but tomorrow I'm slated to do a 7am sample. Hopefully this night's rest will be as good as last since it won't be very long!