Helicopter recovery

We finally got on the helicopter yesterday, and now all of our instruments are safe and sound in the lab. It was a little windy in town yesterday, but we decided it was good enough to take off, to see what it was like by our instrument. Here we have take-off:
This is McMurdo. It is a bustling metropolis. Our instrument was about 50 miles east of town, smack in the middle of the Ross Ice Shelf. Flying over that, there isn't much to see except for mount Erebus and lots and lots of white. The flight was pretty bumpy, and we could see the wind kicking up a lot of snow on the ice surface:
See all that blowing snow on the surface? It was windy.. Hugh didn't think he wanted to go outside. The view from my knee was good enough for him:
"Burr...it looks cold out there. Leslie, you're nuts."

Actually, it wasn't that cold out there, only -24 (sheesh...Antarctica really warps your sense of what is cold and what isn't..), but those winds. They were crazy. I'd say they were about 25 or 30 knots. But, we got the instrument and I got a picture:
I look terrible, but it was windy! After this, we got back in the helicopter and headed for home. It was a great adventure, and our pilot, Marko, was awesome.

I also captured another "Monet" shot this morning. I call it "Flags".
That's it for now. Courage.

Short post

Hello. I know, I know. It has been a long time since I've posted. Here's the thing down here: there isn't a whole lot to do. Especially when the weather is bad and you're trying to finish your thesis. BUT! I have good news to report: my thesis defense date is set, and I will be presenting my work on November 13. Which is a Friday. Excellent...

First up: When traveling to Antarctica, you must have at least one picture taken of a close-up of your face, completely covered up, except for the eyes. So many people look like this on a daily basis that I'm sure you'd never recognize them in the galley if you ran into them. And yes, I'm smiling in this shot.


Here we have one from a short walk to Hut Point:
That's Scott's Hut behind me with station further behind the hut.
And finally, this is the only picture of a balloon launch that I've been able to not only get my hands on, but actually post on this blog. I don't know what the deal is: sometimes Blogger doesn't want to work.
Here is our last big instrument launch of the season. We are getting the instrument ready to go, and there are some people in the background holding the balloon. We have already gotten two of these instruments back, with the third and final one still on the ice. Stephanie, Mahesh and I are supposed to go out on the helicopters tomorrow to get it back, weather permitting. I'll update again after the helo ride!