I am at the South Pole!!! Woohoo!! The flight down here was amazing. The plane was an LC-130 which was LOUD. We had ear plugs and the plane was not full, so we were able to get up and walk around a lot. The landscape of Antarctica is amazing. Picture the Rockies buried in 10,000ft of snow and ice and glaciers flowing to the horizon. I took some pictures from the plane and some of them turned out pretty good. I'll upload them soon. They let me sit in the cockpit for the landing which was awesome! The landing was smooth and we parked fairly close to the station. They hurried us off the plane so that they could load up again and head south. The didn't even turn off the engines.
When we landed, it was about -35F. Not as bad as I thought. We walked up the stairs and into the station. The new station is amazing! I've heard that it was like a space station and they were right! It is really cool. I'll take some pictures and upload them. Right now, the coolest thing is that I have my own room. The bathroom is down the hall, but I'd prefer that to having a roommate. Not that mine was bad, but it just felt like I was living in someone else's house and I always had to tiptoe around.
Currently it is -42F and -58F with the wind chill, in summer. I can't even imagine winter. It take more pictures and upload them as I can. The Internet is a bit slow from here, go figure. :)
Congratulations on making it to the South Pole on your first try!!!! How exciting to be one of the few who will ever see it.
ReplyDeleteDenise
How exciting to be at the South Pole. I think this will be one of the most exciting things that you will remember all your life. Enjoy!
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