I read your latest and so many questions come to mind:
1. When you say “you traveled to the antenna”, what does that entails? Hiking, driving, monster trucks, tonkas toys?????
NASA has a Ford 350 van with 4 wheel drive. The roads here are very gravelly with varying sizes of volcanic rock. I have Piston Bully training tomorrow. Soon that will be the main mode of transportation.
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2. How are the roads/trails marked for night travel?
There is very little night travel because there are no lights outside of town. There are bamboo poles with red and green flags that mark the roads and trails. There are also black flags that mark danger such as crevasses.
3. What work do you do on the antenna and I bet it is cold since the dome skin can’t give you much insulation.
There is preventive maintenance that requires us to travel to the antennas. All of these are a few miles and about 600 feet elevation from town. Yesterday we were at a Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) antenna that needed additional steel bars to reinforce the dome which is a structural and weatherproof enclosure to protect the antenna. We added an additional 6 bars. This involved removing several bolts, adding a bar and longer bolts. I had gloves on but the metal was freezing.
4. Have you received your ration of flashlight batteries which probably won’t last very long in that weather?
We have lots and lots of batteries. Plus the domes inside are well lite up.
5. Have you given a presentation of your cross country ride to the locals?
No, but I have been approached.
6. Can you download books from the internet? It may take all night but….
I bought a Kindle Dx before the trip and downloaded several books. I have also downloaded books to my laptop then transferred to the Kindle. Very easy and fast.
7. Do you have limits on email?
So far no. But the internet is extremely slow. It is tedious just bringing up a news site or my local surfing web page.
8. Do the trucks have super duper windshield wipers?
Yes...and super, super duper tires!
9. How long do you have to let a diesel “warm” up before you can drive it anywhere? Do the tires “thump” when they start up?
I don't know about the diesels but when we travel we don't turn off the van. It is also plugged in for the engine heater when parked. There is a lot of thumping.
10. How is the family doing so far?
They are doing fine, I think. Thanks for asking. They seem used to it because I was gone for 4 months on the bike trip.
and more questions from Chris...Thanks Chris.
So this hike you took, how far
did you wind up walking? Is it dangerous to be venturing out like that
by yourself? Do you drive any of their vehicles? Gas here is 3.76
tonight at Circle K (I bet you don't have to pay). Do you have a radio
station there, if so what does it play? Even though the last flight out is a day or two away, will there be ships over the winter?
The evening walk I took was just around the other side of the harbor - maybe a half mile or so. There are several hikes around McMurdo. Some require two people and a radio with check-in times. The hike I took is okay by yourself. The cliffs were a little scary though.
Yes - I drive our van. It is tough getting up some of the hills so you really have to punch it through the gravel.
Gas in New Zealand is over $8 a gallon. We filled up the van last week and it was free!
Like TV the radio is from the Armed Forces Network (AFN). A little variety. PBS is always good on TV and radio.
The last flight out is scheduled for Monday. Then the "freshies" start running out. Fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs, etc. But we have plenty of beer and wine. The funny thing is I will have "a" beer or glass of wine after work and that's it. By the way the store sells a 6-pack for $6. Such a deal.
