Touchdown!

(My apologies for the belated post, but there have been some delays due to training and lack of internet access)

Picture 1: View of my fellow passengers before takeoff.

Picture 2: View of the interior of the C-130.

Time for the final leg of the journey! Fortunately, the weather cooperated on the morning of the 28^th and we were given permission to board our flight. In addition to the scientists I met from the University of Colorado, we were joined by three scientists from New Zealand, two from China, and two from Japan making this a truly international endeavor.  Our plane was operated by a crew of five from the New York National Guard, which felt strangely fitting as I'm a native New Yorker myself. 

It took a little while to load the plane as we were not only carrying the our own luggage and scientific instruments but also some resupply for the McMurdo Station in Antarctica. However, it wasn't too long until we were in the air.

Riding on a C-130 was an experience unto itself.  The interior of the cabin was unfinished and a little unsettling at first (Pictures 1 and 2). At the same time, it was interesting to see a lot of the inner workings of an airplane that we don’t normally get to observe.  It was also the coldest flight I’ve ever taken due to the lack of cabin insulation so it was a good thing we were wearing our cold weather gear!

About six hours into our eight our flight, the view was nothing short of amazing. Small icebergs drifting in the ocean began to dramatically increase in size and soon we were observing large chunks of sea ice (Pictures 3 &4). This is the austral summer or summer in the southern hemisphere, and we just passed their summer solstice.
Given Antarctica is located below the Antarctic Circle, there can be more than 20 hours of sunlight 

Picture #3: View of increasing sea ice while approaching
Antarctica.

a day during the months of September to March, and for certain portions of the year (including now) the sun stays above the horizon for 24 hours a day.  All of this excess sunlight heats up the seasonal sea ice that forms during the winter months and initiates its melting.

Picture #4: View of sea ice extent around Antarctica

as of December 28, 2014 (Source: National Snow and
Ice Data Center).

Our destination, McMurdo Station, is situated on the coast of McMurdo Sound, which itself is part of the Ross Sea.  The base is located near the transition between permanent and seasonal sea ice on McMurdo Sound. The permanent sea ice is an extension of a glacier that floats on McMurdo Sound, is much of greater thickness (>250 ft), and does not melt during the summer months. As mentioned above, the seasonal sea ice will typically melt from year to year, although its spatial extent will ultimately depend on how warm it is that given year. With that being said, when looking for along flat runway to land a plane, you probably want to chose an area with thick enough ice to support the weight of an aircraft. Therefore, our pilots chose to land in and area called Williams Field, which consists of a snow packed runway situated well within the area of permanant sea ice in McMurdo Sound.

Picture #5: View of our plane on the Williams Field "runway."

The landing was incredibly smooth as we landed on retractable skis located on the bottom of the aircraft.  Upon landing, we stepped out onto the ice and what was the most surreal landscape I’ve seen in my lifetime.