Long days are coming

The days are getting long in McMurdo. As of today, the sun rises around 4:30 AM and sets around 11:00 PM. In about ten days, the sun will no longer disappear below the horizon - it's perpetual daylight.

John's now on the morning shift which he reports is much better - he finishes his shift at 4:00 PM and has more options for activities.

The mainbody flights have started, according to the Antarctic Sun newsletter, which is when the science people and the rest of the support staff start arriving. This will bring McMurdo up to its full complement of people: around 1,200. John was part of the first group out this season (the Winfly).

On the ice...at last

I got a quick email from John today- it's his one day off.

So he's been at McMurdo for five days (or six...the International Dateline plays hob with my ability to keep track). He was part of the Winfly (Winter Flight - the flights to McMurdo after the end of the winter season, before the MainBody arrives).

His work schedule is 10 AM to 8 PM, six days a week. He'll be working the dining hall (so he said) but I gather duties are flexible - people do what needs to be done. His assignments will rotate so he'll never do any one thing longer than two hours at a stretch. Once the full complement of residents arrive in October I suspect work life will develop more of a routine.

There are some established trails set up outside but one has to go through a safety lecture before being authorized to venture outside. John completed one of those one evening and is waiting for the weather to clear up a bit before venturing out.

Living accommodations are dormitory style. John has a roommate and speculates he may get another once more people start arriving. Today, on his day off, he was going to do laundry and get a hair cut.

By the way, I ran across a glossary of Antarctica slang, which looks to be a few years old. Don't know how much is current but what's there is pretty amusing.

Antarctica Q and A

John's employer is NANA Services, LLC, which is a subcontractor to Raytheon Polar Services Company (the primary contractor to the National Science Foundation).

NANA provides culinary, housekeeping, recreation, and retail services. Their website has a PDF which describes the job openings for the 2011 - 2012 Summer season.

NANA website has another PDF entitled "Questions and Answers About Our Antarctica Project ," which is targeted to prospective employees. It's a good overview of what one would expect in terms of day-to-day life while on the Ice.

As a side note, NANA Services is part of the NANA Development Corporation, which is a by product of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), a legal agreement the Federal Government reached with Alaska Natives. NANA's primary shareholders are the 12,500 Iñupiat of Northwest Alaska. I guess if anyone would know cold, they would.

Why John on the Ice?

Copied and expanded on from my original post on the Ralph Art Blog.

My eldest son, John, is about to embark on a six month gig at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Among those in the know, this is referred to as being "on the ice." I set this blog up so I could send out occasional updates to friends and family on his life down under. I'll put up the odd fact or two I run across about McMurdo and/or Antarctica, too.

While there, he'll be part of the support crew, working in food service (he's worked in catering for several years while a student). He's a writer, so my guess is he'll also be gathering experiences for some future Epic Novel.

His first stop is Denver, where he has a couple of days of training. From there, after a brief layover in Los Angeles, he'll fly to New Zealand. The final leg of his journey, from Christchurch, NZ, to McMurdo, Antarctica, will be aboard a military transport plane.



McMurdo Station, on Ross Island (on the southwest corner of Ross Sea), is the operational hub and logistics center for the United States Antarctic Program, which in turn is part of the National Science Foundation. McMurdo is the largest installation on the continent and is the gateway to all other US bases.

During the active (summer) season, around 1,200 people are based there. They are just entering the spring season down there; average highs for September are -5 F, and average lows are -20 F. December is the warmest time of the year - average highs are around 30 F, with lows down to 21 F.

Curious about the weather? Check the McMurdo webcam.

Today was the first day McMurdo had a sunrise since April. The sun was visible for 45 minutes before setting. Around mid-October the sun will cease to set until late February. He'll be there until March of 2012.

It should be a great adventure!