Week 13 at the Pole

By Jean DeMerit — Thursday, April 17, 2014 - 8:00am
Thursday, April 17, 2014 - 8:00am
ICL
Image: D. Larsen, IceCube/NSF

The IceCube Laboratory (ICL) is home to a computer complex that collects and processes data from the experiment’s optical sensors buried in the ice. The IceCube winterovers regularly travel between the South Pole station and the ICL, about a kilometer’s distance, for maintenance tasks or troubleshooting issues. There’s a flag line that marks the way. Once the sun has completely disappeared and the windows are covered for the winter, that flag line becomes especially important—it becomes a lifeline. The bottom photo shows a recent view of the station as the winterovers returned to it.

frozen
Image: D. Larsen, IceCube/NSF

flags
Image: D. Larsen, IceCube/NSF

flags
Image: D. Larsen, IceCube/NSF

 

winterovers ,
Week at the Pole ,
South Pole