Questions from students

1. Can you see the moon all day or not at all? -- Schenectady High School

   You can see the moon only during half the month, and it is the half when the moon is a crescent. The closer to a quarter moon it is, the closer to the horizon it is. During a full moon, the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun, and now the south pole is tilted towards the Sun and away from the Moon. But to prove it is visible, I took the picture on the right from out on the ice shelf.

2. We notice the daily range of temperatures is only about 10 degrees. Do you even feel the temperature change from low to high?

   I haven't really noticed it, but it is evident. During the day, on nice days, puddles of mud can accumulate in McMurdo (the "polies", those who work at the pole, call it McMuddo). In the morning, they're all frozen. Personally I notice the wind a lot more than the actual temperature.

3. We notice you are near water. Is there a beach there? -- Schenectady High School

   
   
   Right now the "water" is all frozen, and the beach is snow and ice. This picture, which was taken off Hut Point, is the closest to a beach I could find.
   

4. What are the buildings made of? -- Schenectady High School

   Just about everything. There are insulated canvas buildings, wood, sheet metal, etc. The newer buildings tend to use pre-made walls with metal or plastic siding and a built-in thick layer of insulation.

5. Do you see the Southern lights? -- Schenectady High School

   No. Southern lights are very dim and you can only see them when the sky is dark. It won't get dark here for months.

6. Is the snow "packing" snow or fluffy snow? -- Schenectady High School

   The snow is rather curious, dry, crystalline snow. It doesn't pack into snowballs the way wetter snow would, but in places where time and pressure have packed the snow, it is almost like styrofoam in consistency. The other incredible thing about it is how sparkling it is. The crystals catch the bright sunlight, and it looks as if someone mixed glitter into the snow (OK, who ordered 100 million tons of glitter?). I haven't been able to capture that effect in photos.

7. What is your research like? How much time do you spend on it each day?

   I spent 8 or more hours a day working on TIGER (and other research). I'll cover the science of TIGER (which is an extended topic) on the web pages.

8. What is ECW clothing? -- Schenectady High School

   I've got this covered in a special report.

9. Did you see many animals or birds? -- Schenectady High School

   I'm very disappointed that I didn't see any live penguins (I did see two dead ones, who had come onto the ice shelf but had starved before they got back to sea). The only animals I did see were skuas and seals (see the wildlife special report).

10. Were you wishing you didn't go down there, or were you happy to be there? Did you feel isolated or lonely? -- Schenectady High School

    I'm glad I went down to Antarctica - it certainly was the trip of a lifetime. But there were certainly times where I felt lonely and missed family and friends, as well.

11. Was it your choice to sleep on the ice in an igloo or tent? How did your igloo stay warm? -- Schenectady High School

    I would have picked the ice mound (much more freeform than an igloo, which is made of blocks) if we could have made one habitable. The tent was fine, and I didn't have any real problem. See the journal articles on Happy Camper School (November 13 and 14) for more.

12. How do you get water to drink? -- Schenectady High School

    I got mine from the tap. They have a very good reverse osmosis plant in McMurdo that gets fresh water from seawater. When you're in a field camp, you just melt (over a stove) snow, and you get fresh water.

13. Do you feel your weight difference because gravity is stronger? -- Schenectady High School

    No, I didn't notice any difference, and the difference in gravity is small.

14. If you had been able to go to the South Pole, how would you have traveled? -- Schenectady High School

    Usually people fly down to the pole in LC-130s, military cargo planes that have skis (and also wheels). I'm going to add a picture of them on the vehicles web page.

15. Do you have outhouses? Does everything freeze? -- Schenectady High School

    In town, there are real flush toilets, but out at Willy Field there are only outhouses. And yes, EVERYTHING freezes (which keeps the smell down). I saw one outhouse that had 1.5 inches of ice on the seat, but didn't use it. In some remote sites, there are only 55-gallon drums with "seats". By the Antarctic Treaty, in the Dry Valleys especially, all human waste has to be removed.

16. What is the weirdest thing you saw while you were there? -- Schenectady High School

    Probably the katabatic wind pouring over the mountains. The katabatic wind is a very fast wind that rolls off the high plateau of the Antarctic, and one evening we could see it just pouring over the distant mountains like a flood of snow and mist. I couldn't take a picture that did it justice, but it was really neat to watch.

1. Congratulations on your successful launch! Are the LDB and ULDB the same?

   No, the LDB (Long Duration Ballooning) program (which is what TIGER is currently flying) uses what is called a "zero-pressure" balloon, where the helium gas is at the same pressure as the atmosphere, and some helium leaks out as the balloon cools. This type of balloon is used for flight of several days all over the world, but can only be pushed to flights of several weeks (like TIGER) at latitudes where the Sun does not set.

   ULDB (Ultra Long Duration Ballooning) will use a new design, where the balloon is sealed, at a higher pressure than the local atmosphere, and somewhat pumpkin-shaped. It should be capable of flight of more than 100 days from any latitude. There have been test flights, but there hasn't been a successful ULDB science flight yet. TIGER had been selected for the first ULDB flight, but delays in the program caused us to shift our sights to LDB.

1. How did you get a job at NASA? -- Jennifer at Schenectady High School

   I met one of the NASA scientists involved with cosmic ray research more than two years before I finished my PhD. We were both in Nebraska flying two different cosmic ray experiments. I kept in touch with him and other scientists at NASA, and they had a job opening just as I was finishing up my degree. I applied for the job (as did others), and they knew I was a good fit for the work they were doing and I had good credentials. It was basically the only job I strongly considered after getting my PhD. I've been with them ever since.

1. When you launch the balloon, does it go straight up for a while and then start circling around the south pole or does it start circling the pole right away, even as it is going up? -- Yacov at Torah Prep School, St. Louis, Missouri.

   The winds at different heights can point in just about any direction, and can have very different speeds. The balloon has no engine, it just travels where the wind blows it. In the case of TIGER, at ground level we started heading southeast, then drifted northeast as we moved up through the atmosphere. At about 80,000 feet we were heading south and it wasn't until we were nearly at our maximum altitude of 128,000 feet that we started heading due west, which will take us around the pole. It took about 3 and a half hours to get all the way up there.

1. What made you want to do what you are doing, and if you could would you change it? -- Jennifer at Schenectady High School

   Well, I've wanted to work for NASA since I was a kid. And it was pretty clear to me that I wanted to be a scientist. So this is just about my perfect job. I didn't know I'd be studying cosmic rays, however. The only thing that would be better would be to become an astronaut and to do science from space. But Antarctica is about as far out as one can get without being an astronaut. I am enjoying myself a lot.

1. Are conditions good to launch the weather balloon? Has it been launched yet? -- Schenectady High School

   The winds at 127,000 feet are not ready yet. Tuesday, the 11th, looks like the first chance to launch the balloon.

2. What are storms like there? How are they different from the U.S.? How cold is cold there? Our models show the atmosphere is lower there - can you detect this just watching the clouds, etc? -- Schenectady High School

   The weather has been mostly clear. When it's not clear, there are either fluffy (frequently lenticular or lens-shaped) clouds, or a low overcast where you can't tell cloud shape. I haven't seen any storms yet. I'd like to see one "Herbie", short for Hurricane-Blizzard, which they can get any time of year here. The cold only seems to be a problem when the wind blows, and it hasn't been really, really cold since I got here. I haven't noticed the lower atmosphere, but up in northern Canada I most noticed it with storms, and I haven't seen a storm yet.

3. What do you do for fun? Do you have planned activities? -- Schenectady High School

   I'm spending my work day about 7 miles from the town of McMurdo. The only people there are balloonatics (as we're called in town), and it's pretty quiet out there. McMurdo is an active place in the evenings. There is almost always something going on, like science lectures, political discussions, sports tournaments (I'm currently playing in a foosball tournament), cards, and every dorm has a wide screen TV and VCR. There is a large tape library of movies, documentaries, etc., and a reasonable book library. There are also several bars, and there are almost always parties on the weekend.

4. Is Antarctica the only place the research can be done? -- Frank at Schenectady High School

   Antarctica is the best place, but not the only one. It is best because we get 24 hours of daylight and can fly around the world while staying over land, and without crossing any political borders.

5. Why doesn't the heat from the volcano melt the snow? -- Angelina at Schenectady High School
   Was there any earthquake action from the volcano? -- Daman at Schenectady High School
   Have you been to the volcano? -- Gabrielle at Schenectady High School

   There is no snow in the cauldera, but the outside is cool enough that snow can stay without melting. When vents open up in the sides, tall chimmneys of snow and ice can form. There haven't been any noticable earthquakes. Erebus is active but very stable currently. I haven't been up to the crest of the volcanoes, but I've talked to people who work up there. They have seismographs, gas monitors, and other instruments. They also may set up a webcam to look at the lava lake in the crater.

6. What would you do if you lost your survival bag? -- Jennifer at Schenectady High School

   If you're lost without your survival bag, the odds are very much against you. Your only hope is to be found soon. The biggest problem is actually food. Your body needs food to keep warm, and there is NOTHING you can eat that you didn't bring with you. Shelter you can probably improvise.

7. How are the garbage and the waste disposed of? -- Kevin at Schenectady High School

   Garbage and waste are all sent back to the states by ship. They spend a lot of effort to minimize human impact down here.

8. Do you have any physical conditions which make it harder to live there? -- Chantelle at Schenectady High School

   I've had a pretty easy time living here.

9. Does the snow taste different there because there is no pollution? -- Michelle at Schenectady High School

   The snow doesn't taste any different, but it is gritty, because it's very dry and crystaline.

1. Is there any new, enlightening information you have discovered about Antarctica that people would be interested to know? -- Old Bridge High School

   The most enlightening things I've discovered are that Antarctica is amazingly desolate, no bugs, no plants, even algae is uncommon here, but it is also quite beautiful. Even after three weeks, I look out across the ice shelf, or up at Mt. Erebus, and am awed. (more on wildlife...)

2. What mode of transportation do you use? -- Old Bridge High School

   Mostly I've been riding in a modified van. (more on the vehicles...)

3. What kind of supplies do you need to survive in Antarctica? -- Old Bridge High School

   McMurdo is very well supplied with food, fuel, construction materials, etc. The fact that they can dock freighters right at the edge of town makes it pretty easy to resupply this place.

4. How large is the settlement civilization in Antarctica? -- Old Bridge High School

   McMurdo, with as many as 1200 people, is the largest settlement. But many other countries have bases, and the total population of the continent is about 4000 during the summer. It is only about 400 during the winter.

5. Has the lack of color in Antarctica affected you in any way? -- Old Bridge High School

   No, blue skies and bright red jackets liven up the outside, and I've been inside a lot of the time, anyway. Since I've been here, I've only seen one "white out" where overcast skies, blowing snow and fog combine to give no contrast between ground and sky, making it very hard to move around.

6. What do your daily activities consist of? -- Old Bridge High School

   My typical day goes as follows:

   5:30 AM Wake up, shower, etc.

   6:15 AM Breakfast

   7:00 AM Catch shuttle van to Willy Field

   7:30 AM Arrive Willy Field, check email, work on TIGER instrument - what I'm doing varies considerably. There is a big list of tasks we had to do before declaring "Flight Ready".

   11:45 AM Lunch (The galley here is much better than in town).

   12:30 PM Back to work on TIGER.

   5:00 PM Drive back to McMurdo

   6:00 PM Dinner

   After dinner is the most variable. I might take a walk or hike, catch a movie or a science lecture, play pool, go to the coffee house or Gallahger's Bar, or work on my email or journal. I'll do a special report on recreation that covers this in more detail.

   ~10:30 PM Sleep

7. What has been the most difficult task for you to do while in Antarctica? -- Old Bridge High School

   The biggest problem has been to find time to do all that I want to do. There are still places I want to go and things I want to see that I may not get a chance to (penguins, etc.). I've been meaning to play basketball at the gym for a few weeks now and haven't gotten down there. The TIGER instrument is my top priority, but even this outreach (email and journal), which is also high priority, hasn't gotten as much time as I would like.

8. What are the instruments that you use for measuring cosmic rays, and how do you work? -- Old Bridge High School

   The TIGER instrument is one experiment that has a stack of different detectors, which are all measuring the same particles. We have four detectors that measure the position of the cosmic rays (x and y position at the top and bottom of the experiment) and that gives us the exact path of the particle through the stack of detectors. We have four identical detectors, called scintillators, that measure the energy of the cosmic rays. Four independent measurements combine to give us one good one, plus we can see the particle actually slowing down (losing energy) as it passes through TIGER. And we have two detectors called Cherenkov detectors that measure the velocity of the cosmic rays (the two are "tuned" for different ranges of cosmic ray velocity).

   All of the detectors work by giving off small amounts of light when the particles pass through. Devices called photomultiplier tubes (there are almost 200 photomultipliers on TIGER) convert the light into electrical signals and, with these signals, we can get a measurement of the amount of light. These measurements are fed into an onboard computer, which transmits the data to the ground. After the flight we will take all the measurement and try and reconstruct what type of particle gave off those amounts of light.

9. Do you feel less motivated to work in such extremely low temperatures? -- Old Bridge High School

   No, actually there are times when I want to do more physical work to get moving more. I have to get up from the computer every now and then to get the blood flowing and warm up.

1. Were any of Sunday's (Leonid) meteors bright enough to see where you are? -- Schenectady High School

   No, the day was too bright and I don't know anyone down here who saw any Leonids. Plus, closer to the equator would be much better for seeing more and bright meteors.

2. Since Sunday has there been a new "crop" of Leonid meteorites found down there? -- Schenectady High School

   Not very likely. Antarctica is a good place to look for meteorites, not because it gets more, but because there are places where glaciers push thousands of years worth of meteorites up against the mountains. And there are so few rocks in the snow, that nearly every rock that you find is a meteorite. For more info, check the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) web site.

1. Is there a way that we can repair the hole in the ozone layer? -- Old Bridge High School

   Possibly, but there is a worry that the repair might do more damage in some other way. The hole does appear to be self-repairing with time, so all we have to do is stop destroying ozone and it should return to normal.

2. How many layers of clothing do you have to wear to prevent frostbite from affecting your internal organs? -- Old Bridge High School

   If you have frostbite on your internal organs, you are, in medical terms, "dead". Frostbite is when your cells freeze, and usually refers to extremities; fingers, toes, nose, etc. When your core temperature drops (meaning your internal organs), it is called hypothermia, and is usually fatal by the time your core temp. reaches about 60 degrees F, well above freezing. You need at least three layers to stay warm: an inner layer that wicks your sweat away from the body; a middle layer (fluffy) that gives insulation; and an outer that is wind-proof. Some of these layers may be combined in one piece of clothing. I'll do a special report on this.

3. Has wildlife been a problem? Have attacks occurred at any time during the project? What do you have to protect yourself? -- Old Bridge High School

   Wildlife is rarely a problem down here. The seals, penguins, and skuas (large seagulls with oversized bills) will tend to avoid you rather than attack you. We did have a skua try and walk into our galley (kitchen), but I suspect it was our T-bone steaks he was interested in attacking. We shooed him away without any incident.

4. Do compasses work at the South Pole or are they affected by your location? -- Old Bridge High School

   The South Magnetic Pole is not at the South Pole, which is determined by the axis that the Earth is spinning on. As a matter of fact, the magnetic pole isn't even on Antarctica, but off the coast. But close to the magnetic pole, the compass needle actually tries to point down, which usually makes it rub and stop spinning. Except for that, a compass will still work until you get very close to the magnetic pole, which the South Pole isn't. You have to correct the direction for the magnetic pole location however. This is true even where you are in the States. I think that the North Pole is about seven degrees off the direction that a compass will point in the US northeast.

5. Does the failure of two Ultra-Long Duration Balloons (ULDB) (which caused the two-year delay in TIGER) put any doubts in your head about these two ULBD balloons being able to work successfully? - Old Bridge High School

   We are not actually going to fly TIGER on the new ULDB balloon design, which is designed for more than 100-day flights. We are going to fly on a standard balloon design, which has been flown successfully more than 100 times, although there are still failures. The thirty day flight is about the limit of the standard balloon, however. And we can only get a flight that long because we are going to stay in daylight the entire time. Every sunset requires hundreds of pounds of ballast, and every night requires hundreds of pounds of batteries (we'll get our power solely from solar arrays).

6. Why is the TIGER experiment only designed to measure galactic cosmic rays with atomic numbers between 26 and 40? -- Old Bridge High School

   Below charge 26, the CRIS instrument on ACE has already done more observation than we could possibly do with TIGER. Elements above atomic number 40 are so rare that TIGER will measure too few particles to do any science with. For these, we will need a spacecraft flying for years, which we are proposing to build (it's called HNX).

7. What is the average temperature in Antarctica? the high? the low? -- Old Bridge High School

   It varies quite a bit over the continent. And the pole is not the coldest point on Earth. The Russians have a base (Vostok) on the high plateau that averages colder than the pole, and also has the coldest recorded temperature (I think it was -93 F). An encyclopedia or book on Antarctica can probably give you better numbers than I can.

8. What is the proposed budget for this project?

   The total budget is difficult to estimate, because the money is coming from a bunch of different sources. I've heard that it costs the NSF more than $2000 per person per day to have someone down here at McMurdo, and TIGER and NSBF combined have more than 20 people. By the time you add in the cost of equipment, shipping, and salaries, it's probably over a million dollars. This is still considerably cheaper than a spacecraft, the cheapest of which currently cost about $75 million. I realize that these seem like big numbers, but a lot of the cost is salaries. When you have a large team of highly-skilled, and pretty highly-paid people working on something for a number of years, the costs add up.

9. What do you think is the Earth going to be in some decades, if the average temperature increases at the same rate it increasing now? -- Old Bridge High School

   At the current rate, the Earth will only be a little warmer in a few decades. That little bit will be enough to raise the oceans some, and a warmer Earth means more and bigger storms such as hurricanes and even blizzards. As the Earth warms up, not only does the average temperature go up, but the variations in temperature also increase as more energy is put into the atmosphere.

10. How far from the South Pole are you? -- Old Bridge High School

    850 miles

11. What advice would you give to a young student who would want to pursue a similar career path as yours? -- Old Bridge High School

    Most of my advice would be pretty obvious. Take as many advanced math and science courses as you can and do well in them. But it would also be to learn how to look at things with a scientist's eye. A scientist nearly always looks at things as problems to be solved and puzzles to figure out. And, believe it or not, that is fun. If you don't enjoy science, you probably shouldn't go into it.

12. What kinds of plants and animals have you come into contact with? -- Old Bridge High School

    Plants: algae. Animals: South Polar Skua (a seagull). That's it so far, although I'm hoping for more. In the sea, under the ice, is where most of the life is. The continent is AMAZINGLY desolate.

13. Are you able to keep up with United States' news? If so, is there any delay before you receive the updates? -- Old Bridge High School

    I've been reading the Washington Post website nearly every day, so keeping up with current events has been pretty easy. Plus there is national news on the Armed Forces Network, which is one of the cable channels here.

14. What do you guys do during your spare time, if you have any down there? -- Old Bridge High School

    I'll cover this in a special report later.

15. Why did you decide to do the research from the South Pole rather than the North Pole?

    Because we can circle the pole and stay over land the entire time (we also stay in daylight the entire time, which is why we want to be near the pole). We also don't have to worry about overflying Russia for example, although that is easier now than it used to be.

1. How does the weather help or hurt your experiment? -- Schenectady High School

   In order to launch the payload, we need fairly special weather conditions. The ground winds need to be light (3-8 knots), but not zero, and from a steady direction. And there needs to be no "shear layer" in the lower atmosphere, where the wind changes direction and/or velocity in a small region of altitude. These constraints come from the way the extremely large balloon has to be launched (which I'll explain in more detail in a special report).

2. Do the wind patterns and or temperature patterns affect your experiment? -- Schenectady High School

   Other than the ground winds needed for launch, we also need the winds at 120,000 feet (the altitude we'll fly at) to be stable and "circumpolar". This is another way of saying that they just circle around the pole, so our instrument will circle the continent and come back to almost directly overhead. This circular wind pattern will start about December 10, and this is what sets the first possible day we can launch. And, while we have to watch the temperature of our instrument so that it doesn't get too hot or too cold, the ground temperatures don't affect it at all.

3. Does the ozone hole help and/or hinder your experiment? -- Schenectady High School

   The major problem with the ozone hole on our experiment is that the extra ultraviolet light degrades the plastic of the balloon and parachute, and they are worried that it will get too weak over a 30 day flight. It's one of the reasons why we might not be able to go twice around the pole.

4. How does the existence of the ozone hole affect your health, your clothes, etc. -- Schenectady High School

   There is an added risk of sunburn and snow blindness from the extra UV light.

5. Do you have to take any special precautions or preparations as a result of the ozone hole? -- Schenectady High School

   Extra sunblock and good sunglasses should prevent most personal problems from the ozone hole.

6. Do you collect or monitor any data about other parts of the EM spectrum and does this relate in any way to the size of the ozone hole? -- Schenectady High School

   Our instrument doesn't do anything but detect cosmic rays, which are particles and not part of the EM spectrum.

7. Does the solar wind / solar flares have any effect on your experiment? -- Schenectady High School

   The solar wind is very low energy and doesn't get through the Earth's magnetic field, which extends out 60,000 miles. Solar flares can occasionally accelerate particles up to the energy that TIGER measures, but we'll know (from spacecraft like ACE), if that is happening.

1. Are the signs of global warming visible to you (or others that have been there before) in Antarctica? If so, what are the signs that you see? -- Schenectady High School

   I've never been to Antarctica before, so I have nothing to compare with. But I know that those who study global warming see shrinking of the icecap and glaciers. I'll have to talk to one of the experts to get more info.

2. Has global warming had any effect on your experiment or on animals that live there? -- Schenectady High School

   Our instrument measures cosmic rays above the atmosphere and is completely unaffected by global warming. I know that several species (Emperor Penguins for example) are now breeding farther south than they were 30 years ago.

3. Can you see any stars or planets at all? -- Schenectady High School

   The Sun isn't going to set the entire time I'm down here. It's possible that Venus might be visible, but I haven't seen it.

4. Do you have more colds or health issues down there? -- Schenectady High School

   There is a flu-like chest cold that some people get when they first come down here. I don't know of any other problems, and they've only selected healthy people to come down here, so I don't think things are any worse, and they may be better. I'll stop in at the health clinic and ask.

5. If somebody does something wrong, do they get punished? -- Schenectady High School

   Yes. There is a deputized Federal Marshall down here with authority to arrest people. Serious crimes would be tried and punished back in the US. Lesser stuff is handled here. For more info, I'll have to ask.

6. Does it confuse you to see the Sun all day? -- Schenectady High School

   It really bothers some people, but I've had no problem. The biggest problem is that some people have lots of trouble sleeping. The long night of winter is apparently much more of a problem and some people get really depressed. Last night, I did wake up at 2:30 and it was a little disconcerting to have it be bright as day, although the shadows were longer.

7. What is your daily life like (food, showers, clothes, fun, how many people, transportation, TV...) -- Schenectady High School

   I'll answer this question over the next month. I haven't been here long enough to settle into things. (Read Dr. Christian's Antarctica Journal for updates)

8. Can you bring things back to the states? If so, what? -- Schenectady Hi gh School

   There are very strict limits on bringing things back to the states. You need a permit for rock, soil, ice, water, and anything biological.

9. How much do you have to plan for a changing temperature? -- Schenectady High School

   Layering is the name of the game. The big problem is that they keep the buildings quite warm (although that really isn't a problem). Many people just move quickly from building to building without putting on all their gear (I've seen shorts outside). But outside, if you're working hard, it requires taking off a few layers to keep from sweating too much. Sweat will cause you to get very cold when you stop working. I'll cover clothing in one of my special reports.

10. How easily does your body become acclimated to this climate? -- Schenectady High School

    I haven't had any problem yet. We'll see after "Happy Camper School", when I have to spend a night out on the ice.

11. When you first arrive, how does your body react to the shock? -- Schenectady High School

    The full ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) clothing did it's job, and I didn't have any problem.

12. Do you experience unusual problems breathing? seeing? smelling? tasting? -- Schenectady High School

    Smelling and tasting have been unaffected, as far as I can tell. Breathing, you notice the dryness, and dry mouth is very common. Seeing is the worst, because it is extremely bright (and the UV intensity is higher). You can actually "sunburn" your eyeballs (called "snow blindness") if you don't protect them (although most cases just involve temporary weakening of the vision, not actual blindness). I've got prescription sunglasses which work very well, but every time I go in and out of a building, I have to change glasses. It is way too dark inside with the sunglasses, and way too bright outside with my clear glasses.