Outfitting

The last 36 hours have been a bit of a blur.  During this time, I took three different flights (PHL-->LAX, LAX-->SYD, SYD-->CHC) totaling over 10,000 miles and approximately 22 hours in the air.  I was a little disappointed to miss Christmas this year as the second flight left Los Angeles at 10pm on the 24^th, and due to crossing the International Date Line inflight, we didn't technically land until the 26^th, thus I missed the 25^th altogether (Maybe next year I can get that Arctic Lego play set). This has left me in the City of Christchurch, New Zealand with only one leg of the journey to go!

Picture 1: View of the US Antarctic Program's terminal at

Christchurch Airport

Before we take that last plane flight, we had to pay a trip to the Antarctic Support Contract office to get outfitted with cold weather gear (Pictures 1 &2). Many of the items are designed for maximum warmth and therefore can be quite heavy.  As I mentioned earlier, this presents a bit of a problem as you are only allowed to take a maximum of 75 pounds of luggage on the final flight.  Fortunately, I packed well due to the advice of several friends I met in graduate school at the Ohio State University who have previously worked in Antarctica (more on them to come later), and I actually have three pounds to spare!

Picture 2: View of the provided cold weather gear.

After watching a series of general educational videos of what we should expect during the coming months (many of which had my friends in them!), we were told what we will need to wear for the flight tomorrow (Picture 3). This amount of clothing might

seem like overkill for an eight hour plane flight, but we will be flying on a C-130, which is a military aircraft with not much insulation (Needless to say, I will not be expecting any inflight service). We also need to be prepared for extremely cold conditions in the event of an emergency.  Finally, this will also serve as a dry run for how I will need to dress when working in the field, so it will be nice to get acquainted with my new clothes.

Picture 3: View of cold weather gear

 you are required to wear on the flight

 to Antarctica.

Probably the most exciting part of the day was meeting other scientists who will also be taking the trip with me tomorrow.  In particular, I met a group from the University of Colorado who will be using a series of instruments to study the ionosphere (an upper region of the atmosphere [~80km – 1,000km above the Earth’s surface] made up of charged particles) .  Their initial research has already shown this atmospheric layer is much larger than previously thought and they are continuing to research its physical properties.  

Although I have not yet mentioned it, one of the most satisfying aspects of being a scientist is hearing the questions others are asking about how the planet works.  While we often have these conversations with those who share similar research interests, other times like today, they can be with those from a different field altogether.  Either way, the conversations not only shape our own thoughts about different Earth systems (lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, etc.) but can also help us to view our own field from a completely different perspective and provide creative ideas on how to move forward.  

One thing we all agreed upon is that we are excited to take the final flight tomorrow and get to work! Hopefully, the weather cooperates…