Ice Stories: Dispatches From Polar Scientists » Exploratorium Crew http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:40:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Walkabout http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/walkabout/ http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/walkabout/#comments Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:12:56 +0000 Exploratorium Crew http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/?p=1280 MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA– (By Ron Hipschman) In this video I thought it might be interesting to give you a sense of McMurdo by taking you from our office in Crary Lab, where most of the polar scientists do their work, on a short journey outside to see where we’ll be webcasting from (weather permitting!)

Today we did our first test webcast just to try a new setup that we’ve never used before. While we have our traditional broadcast equipment, we’re trying to make ourselves more mobile by substituting a Mac laptop and video production software called WireCast for 350 pounds of electronics in two large racks. It is hoped that the smaller and lighter equipment will be faster to set up and easier to use in remote locations where we could not bring the bulkier racks.



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]]> http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/walkabout/feed/ 3 Arriving on the Southernmost Continent http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/arriving-on-the-southern-most-continent/ http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/arriving-on-the-southern-most-continent/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:04:40 +0000 Exploratorium Crew http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/?p=1279 MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA– (By Ron Hipschman) To get to McMurdo, you start in Christchurch, New Zealand. There you board either a C-17 Jet (5-hour trip) or an LC-130 Airplane (8-hour trip). We were lucky enough to to get the C-17. Lucky as we were, this is no luxury liner. Most of the space in this huge aircraft is taken up with cargo bound for Antarctica, leaving very little room for passengers.

This first movie is a pan around the cargo hold just after we boarded the jet while we were settling in for our journey. You’ll see Lisa (waving), then Mary. The guy in the Orange shirt waving at the camera is Ralph Harvey, who collects meteorites on the ice. Though we didn’t know him at the time, you can find him featured in our webcasts.



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This second movie is our arrival and debarking from the jet into the blinding whiteness of Antarctica. All people on the jet are required to wear extreme cold weather (ECW) gear. The C-17 looks bigger from the outside!



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