Tag: south pole station
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IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica Confirms Existence of Cosmic Neutrinos
In the news today, the existence of cosmic neutrinos was confirmed by Antarctic scientists. I had the opportunity to work at the South Pole Station during the operation of the Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory, and feel lucky to have become friends with PI Albrecht Karle and his team. A few articles about Ice Cube and…
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First Results From The BICEP2 CMB Telescope Announced re: Gravitational Waves in the Cosmic Microwave Background
A little over a year ago, I had the extraordinary opportunity to work with scientists John Kovac, Jon Kaufman, Howard Hui, and others at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica (summary of my experience living and working at the south pole) on the BICEP2 and KECK Array Microwave Telescopes. Learning about how the telescopes worked,…
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How To Get A Job In Antarctica
So, you want to live and work in Antarctica? Sounds good! I’ve lived and worked in Antarctica a number of times (2012-13 South Pole and 2014-15 WAIS Divide), and have fielded countless questions about the best way to get down to the ice. Getting my position down on the ice was no easy task, and took…
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Living and Working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica, Summer 2012-2013
During the Austral Summer of 2012-2013, I traveled to Antarctica to work as a Cook, EMT, Tour Guide, and Photojournalist at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. While I was living there, I took over 10,000 photos, hours of video footage, and published an article about life in Antarctica on my blog every single day. Here’s…
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A Tour of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica
After living and working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station during the summer 2012-2013 season, I’ve had the chance to see most parts of the station. Additionally, I also worked as a tour guide for the various tourist groups who visited the station. Here’s a brief narrated video tour of both the elevated station as…
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Panoramas From The South Pole
During my time working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, I used my iPhone5 and the 360 Panorama App to take a number of interactive panoramas of various spaces at the station. Here they are.. View all of my 360 Panoramas Outside the station
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Leaving the South Pole Station for McMurdo Station
Summer has ended at the South Pole Station, and now the main summer crew is transiting through McMurdo, off the ice. My final day on station was Feb 12th. On that day, I packed up my bags, got on an LC-130 Hercules, and flew from pole to mcmurdo. As much as I was excited to…
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Working in the South Pole Kitchen
Alrighty, the south pole kitchen. My official place of employment at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The reason they were paying me to be there. I also did a number of other jobs at the south pole – EMT, Tour Guide, Reporter, Research Assistant – but my main job was as the lone breakfast cook.…
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The South Pole Emergency Lifeboat
During the summer at the south pole, there are regular airplane flights, skiier expeditions, and all sorts of transportation to and from the station. If an emergency happens, it’s relatively easy to escape from the station. However, during the very very cold winter months, when it’s dark out 24/7, there is absolutely no way to…
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Lane Patterson Starts Up The South Pole Greenhouse for Winter 2013
Although it wasn’t used during my summer season, the South Pole Station does have its very own spaceage greenhouse. In preparation for the upcoming Winter season, scientists Lane Patterson arrived on station shortly before the winter closure to get things started. Lane will be running the Greenhouse all winter, which ideally will produce about 25lbs…
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The South Pole Medical Clinic
One of my jobs at the South Pole Station this year was on Team 4, the emergency medical response team. As part of working on that team, I got to spend a good amount of time inside the station’s medical clinic, managed by Lead Physician Dr. Sean Roden and Nurse Practicioner Cassie Spruill. Given its…
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The HAM Radio Shack – Talking To The World From KC4AAA At The South Pole
Buried deep within the B1 Emergency Pod at the Amundsen Scott South Pole Station is the emergency communications booth – inside, there is a complete set of backup comms equiptment, capable of operating completely independently from the rest of the station in the event of a catastrophic loss. In addition to backup gear, there is…
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Band Practice at the South Pole
Yep, we even have a fully equipped music room at the south pole station. Here’s a pic of the room, in and ouf of use. ‘
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More Pics of the South Pole Lorentz Invariance Test
A few weeks ago, I wrote a brief overview of the South Pole Lorentz Invariance Test in the Antarctic Sun: A new experiment was installed last month in the station’s Cryogenics Lab, which is being repurposed because there is no longer a need for liquid helium to the super cool the sensors used for certain…
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Snowmobile Training
Although we all live primarily at the elevated portion of the south pole station, there are a number of other structures in the surrounding areas. Most are within walking distance, but to get there with a bit more speed, we use snowmobiles. Anybody on station is allowed to drive a snowmobile, but first they must…
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Team 4 – Emergency Medical Response
Among my many jobs at the South Pole Station, one of them is as an Emergency Medical Responder on “Team 4” – I’m a certified Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician. If any kind of emergency happens on station, it’s our job to take care of any medical or trauma patients. Additionally, I acted as one of…
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Tourists at the South Pole
Despite its remoteness, the South Pole has a lot of visitors every year. Of course, the main human presence at the pole is the United States Antarctic Program – with whom I worked this past 2012-2013 summer season. The USAP has about 150 people living at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, in addition to a…
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The South Pole’s Satellite Communications Link: The Golf Ball
The south pole station is remote – very remote. All communications has to happen via some sort of radio link, and the main links for general data and voice from the station is on one of 4 satellite networks – GOES, TDRS, SKYNET, or Iridium. GOES is by far the oldest data link, and uses…
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Published on the Antarctic Sun: Lost Airplane Ceremony Photo
One more photo published in the Antarctic Sun – a composite from our ceremony for the crew of the lost twin otter.
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Published on the Antarctic Sun: The South Pole Station January Update
Antarctic Sun South Pole Station January Update Jeffrey Donenfeld Freshly posted on the NSF’s Antarctic Sun site, here’s my February South Pole Station Update, covering science and construction projects happening in the month of January, 2013 at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica. Cheers! Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station January Update (PDF)