This morning we left for the South Pole in a cargo plane - the C130. The C130 has landing skis instead of landing wheels. The plane was packed with cargo and researchers. We were the last to board the plane - there were no more seats, and so two of us sat behind the pilots in the cockpit. They were kind and gave me the pilots headset so I could listen to their conversation. As the plane started taxi-ing on the sea ice runway, it slowed down, just like at SFO when the planes queue to take off. But we were the only plane on the runway.
"Penguins on the runway!" Two emperor penguins were "waddling" on the runway. We sat there and waited for about 20 minutes for them to get off the runway. We finally took off for the South Pole.
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| Penguins on the runway! |
There are multiple very impressive installations at the South Pole. At the South Pole Science lab, the projects include IceCube (neutrino detection), South Pole Telescope, seismology. I met the people working in the Atmospheric Research Observatory. The CO2 concentration at the South Pole was 393.98 ppm yesterday. I was given a vial of SPO air. They were planning to launch a balloon tomorrow to measure the vertical profile of ozone. Too bad I had to miss it.
The South Pole is marked ceremonially by a reflective sphere on a post.
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| THE SOUTH POLE! |
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| The red flags mark the previous positions of the ceremonial South Pole marker. In the distance are the various science laboratories and installations.
Our visit to the South Pole was cut short because of weather. We had to board the plane in the next 10 minutes or else.
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