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Take-off!
We arrived at
the Antarctic Centre at 6:00
AM and boarded the plane only to find after taxiing down the runway
that there was "an oxygen leak in the navigation system." They
said that it would take at least 3 hours before it could be fixed and
that we shouldn't expect to leave before about 10:00 AM. The
plane returned to the Antarctic Centre and the shuttle picked us up and
took us back to the Clothing Distribution Center and we just sat and
waited. Returning to the plane at about 10:00, I was expecting
them to say that our flight would be cancelled again. The weather
in Christchurch was still rainy and dreary, and they said that there
was still low visibility out at McMurdo.
After all was said and done, however, we were able
to leave. The plane took off around 10:30 and the 17 of us were crammed together with 4 cargo
palettes. The flight is extremely noisy and not really very
comfortable. The temperature changes constantly. It can be
around 20° one minute and then soar up to around 80° the
next. We all thought for sure that we were going to boomerang and
it wasn't until we were able to see the amazing aerial
view of Antarctica before we realized that we weren't turning back.
The plane touched down
around 4:00 PM at the Ice runway and we took the shuttle into McMurdo
to the National Science Foundation Chalet
to pick up our housing
information and verify the duration of our stay at McMurdo. Being
male with a name like "Lauren" always makes for interesting situations,
and just like I had expected, I was scheduled to live with a
woman. After making a quick stop by the housing office, I was
given a temporary room to stay in, since most of the rooms are crowded
with people that have had their flights delayed to the South Pole.
The room that I'm in right now is in the main
building where the dining hall, the bookstore and the housing office
are located. It's a quadruple room and I'm lucky enough to be the
only one occupying it at the moment. I was told that I could
switch rooms if I'd like as soon as the South Pole people clear out.
So tomorrow morning it's up at 6:30 to meet Dave
Sullivan, our campaign manager from the National Scientific Balloon
Facility for breakfast before heading out to Williams Field to get
TIGER out of its sea container.
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