Whenever I tell people that I am going to Antarctica for the next few months, I always get tons of questions. So this is where I will keep anyone who is interested up-to-date on my adventures. Feel free to ask any questions, and I will do my best to answer.
How cold will it be?
First, it will be summer in Antarctica, which is similar to cold winter days in the U.S. Because I will be in the Antarctic Circle (same as the Arctic Circle but on the south end of Earth), the sun never actually sets. So I will be in 100% daylight almost the whole time I am gone, except for maybe a few hours of dusky darkness in early November. Historical averages show that temperatures in McMurdo (where I'll be) will range from around 0 deg F in November to 30 deg F in the peak of summer in later December. Since the sun doesn't set, the temperature won't drop at night like we're used to. However it is very susceptible to changes due to weather conditions: cloud cover and wind chill can make things much colder. Interestingly though, during the "Polar Vortex" last year there were actually a few days where it was warmer in Antarctica than it was in parts of the Northern U.S. EDIT: I know I have told a few people that it will be dark for at least a few hours in the first few weeks that I am there. Apparently that is wrong. It is already light all the time. It is very weird seeing weather websites show sunrise at 12:00 AM and sunset at 12:00 AM. :) What does your mission actually do? Our mission is called the Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory 2 or STO-2. STO-1 launched in January of 2012, but I wasn't involved with that mission. The PI is Chris Walker from the University of Arizona. Our team is composed of the gondola team from APL and the science team from University of Arizona, Arizona State University, JPL, and even SRON, the Dutch Space Agency. Explaining the mission name will give you a better understanding of what it is all about: Stratospheric = It will be on a balloon up in the stratosphere averaging around 115,000 feet at float altitude. Terahertz = Terahertz waves are at the low ("far") end of the infrared band. If you remember from physics, the electromagnetic spectrum divides waves into the following bands: radio, microwave, infrared (IR), visible, ultraviolet (UV), x-ray, and gamma-ray. The sensors on our mission will detect signals in the far infrared, which is between microwaves and mid/near infrared (used in night vision technologies). Observatory = It is a telescope! Hanging from a balloon! We are mapping the Milky Way galaxy (and some parts outside of our galaxy like the Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC) to better understand star formation. We will be pointing particularly at the interstellar medium, which is where stars are born! I will be honest in that I don't really understand the science much beyond that, but I am happy to ask our science team questions if anyone has any. I am on the engineering team that just makes sure our systems all work.
2 Comments
Sherron Shuffield
10/27/2015 03:56:56 pm
You have left! I hope you have FANTSTIC EXPERIENCE. STAY WARM. I'll follow along : ).
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Brittany Hoeschele
10/28/2015 06:53:38 am
Best of luck Kate! Can't wait to read all about it :)
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