What better way to spend a nice sunny day than lying on a blanket enjoying an ice cream cone. That’s what IceCube’s winterovers thought. No matter that the nice day is at the South Pole, sunny maybe but definitely not warm.
Last week, two of three large cargo crates holding new servers and other equipment were delivered to the IceCube Lab, or ICL. Extra hands helped with opening and unloading of all the temperature-sensitive equipment.
IceCube’s new winterovers, Benjamin and Kathrin, are now fending for themselves as they said goodbye last week to Johannes and Raffaela, who finally left the Pole after some delays. (Thanks, guys!)
Last week began with cold, beautiful weather. The sun was out when all four winterovers set off in a pisten bully to visit all the IceTop stations. These trips are part of the regular task of measuring snow accumulation at the stations. Looks like they were having a good time.
And then there were four. Last week saw the arrival of IceCube’s two new winterovers, Kathrin and Benjamin, joining departing winterovers Raffaela and Johannes before they leave the Pole. On their first visit to the ICL, they set up a camera timer to capture a group photo. But the timer was a bit fast for getting back into their planned arrangement atop a giant snowdrift—so, antics ensued.
IceCube was quiet and well behaved last week, but the week was full of all sorts of other activity now that the summer season is officially underway. Here we see IceCube winterover Raffaela getting ready to help park the first passenger aircraft of the season.
Ok, so you’ve completed that giant 18,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, now what? Well, you might not want to take it apart again, at least not for a while. The folks at the South Pole decided to give theirs a place of honor on the wall in the B2 science lab.
Bad weather at the Pole last week kept the first flights from arriving, but it also meant lots of snow shoveling and fuel line testing to continue their readiness for incoming flights once conditions do improve.
While they wait at the Pole for the first arriving flights of the season, there are still chores to do, like snow removal. The snowcat in this image is poised for action.
The main entrance to the South Pole station is known as Destination Alpha—this image shows a view out onto the frosty tundra from there at early sunrise.