Yesterday after work I finally went to The Tube (along with Juan and Matt), and it did not disappoint. Sometimes people see seals and large creatures down there, and so, upon returning, I was asked if I saw anything cool. While I didn’t see a seal, and I knew what they meant, I couldn’t say no; everything I saw was cool. Water, ice, and tiny fishes.
During the day Juan started his big arts and crafts project of lining the scoop with aluminized mylar. We also had our first liquid nitrogen transfer. The safety guy was satisfied that people who have performed hundreds or thousands of cryogen transfers seemed to know what they were doing.
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- The “main” entrance to 155, though the one I use least
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- Beware the dreaded land shark! (This be but a skeleton)
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- “Sunset” over the ice makes for easy beautiful photos
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- Dive hut near The Tube
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- A memorial cross at the end of hut point
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- For George T. Vince
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- While we were waiting, we see a plane landing at the nearby airfield
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- Dive hole, in dive hut
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- The Tube. Straight out of Super Mario; to enter stand above and crouch (courtesy Matt, since I totally forgot to take a picture of it)
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- Juan in The Tube (it’s a bit of a tight fit for two people, but more fun that way)
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- Juan and I in The Tube. Taken by Matt, waiting above. He could have fit too, but it would have been a lot less comfortable
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- None of my pictures from the tube capture it’s awesomeness
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- But here you can kind of see one of the tiny fish
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- And the glowing sea ice
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- Rock and snow and wind: Antarctica in a nutshell (wind not pictured)
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- The hoist power is locked-out (but with key present)
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- Our deck (“This Side Out” side in…though the other side says that too)
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- Before placing the deck, the ground is flattened
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- Deck, outside our now useful front door (previously leading to a 4 foot drop)
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- Juan cuts mylar sheets to fill in the scoop
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- Matt demonstrates cryogen transfer PPE (personal protective equipment): mask and gloves
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- Juan tapes mylar. The operation is non-trivial because both the inside and outside must be covered
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- Mark and Matt fill the cryostat with nitrogen
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- And the official supervisors supervise, officially
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- Matt opens the helium tank (which also gets a nitrogen fill, to start)
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- Elio helps with the transfers too
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