Dale Andersen’s Astrobiology Antarctic Status Report: 29 October 2024: Base Camp Structures
Keith’s note: Astrobiologist Dale Andersen is back in Antarctica at Lake Untersee for another field season of Research. Dale’s work is coordinated through the SETI Institute. We’ll be posting his updates here. You can read about his prior exploits here.
29 October 2024 update 3:00 pm EST
Dale: The lab tent is now up, and next on the list is the dive tent. We just completed making the platform so tomorrow, if it is nice, we just need to assemble the hut over it and secure it all to the ice. The Weatherport is secured to the 3/4” plywood by using deck screws through the frame. The entire deck is attached to the ice by drilling deep (1/2 to 1 meter deep) V notch holes in the ice. We then pass a line through and tie off the ends to make a secure loop in the ice and through a hole drilled in each corner of the platform. We typically use line made of Dyneema or Kevlar for these attachment points.
29 October 2024 update 11:00 am EST
Dale: We’ve been pretty busy setting up camp, though the weather has slowed us down a bit. Over the past few days, wind gusts topping 50 mph, along with steady, light snow and blowing snow (ground blizzards), have made things challenging.
Yesterday, we had a break in the weather for most of the day and managed to set up the new kitchen hut—a gabled WeatherPort from Alaska Structures. It’s just like our others, but with two additional sections, extending the length to 20 ft instead of the usual 12 ft. The extra space has already made a huge difference.
Getting it up wasn’t easy; just as we were putting the large, final cover in place, the winds and blowing snow hit us hard. We had to act fast, tying off sections to keep everything secure, but despite the chaos, we got it done. Miles and I brought in tables, chairs, power, and some heat, so now we have a cozy spot to escape the cold and wind that’s been battering us lately. Last night, we all enjoyed our freeze-dried meals together in a warm, dry hut!
Today, with the weather calming down, we’ve been getting things organized, digging snowmobiles and other items out from under the snow, and setting up the lab tent. We’re hoping to put up one more Heimplanet tent before the day’s end.
During a quick break, I made a trip to check on the DataGarrison climate station we set up last year. It looks to be in good shape, though I’ll need to go over the data later – the photo I made captured the moment nicely!
DataGarrison climate station — Dale Andersen
Cheers from Untersee
Dale
29 October 2024 update 9:30 am EST
Dale sent several pictures to me via his Starlink terminal this morning. Dale and his team are getting their base camp up and operating so as to support the people, science instruments, and diving gear needed to conduct this field season’s research.
There are two large communal tents at base camp. One is a cooking or mess tent. The other is a laboratory tent. These are standard issue for polar and alpine research. Once assembled and anchored down these tents are amazingly resistant to the severe winds and weather that are a constant factor in polar research.
In the background of this image you can see a blue cargo carrier. It is a standard intermodal shipping container – that is hauled to Lake Untersee on a sledge. In addition to being very sturdy it also facilitates the storage and shipping of items to and from Antarctica. In front of the cargo container is the Cooking Tent – a gabled WeatherPort from Alaska Structures – Dale Andersen
The Laboratory Tent is shown below during assembly. It is also of the same sturdy construction. Inside are the collection, labeling, and analysis systems needed to document and preserve samples taken from various locations above, within, and below the ice on Lake Untersee. There are several similar tents utilized in the same way on Devon Island. – Dale Andersen
Here are several examples of mess tents from my own expeditionary experience. On the left is the mess tent and a lab tent at the Haughton-Mars Project on Devon Island, Nunavut Canada in 2007. Dale was often on Axel Heiberg island at the McGill Arctic Research Station (MARS) research base. We’d sometimes hear their radio traffic in the evenings during schedule radio check-ins. On the right is the mess tent at Everest Base base camp where Astronaut Scott Parazynski and I spent time in 2009. — Keith Cowing
Cooking Tents/Mess tents have multiple purposes. In addition to the preparation and eating of meals they are also the prime meeting place for all of the scientists and support personnel during a field season. You will find similar facilities at virtually any research base in Earth’s polar, alpine, oceanic, desert, or jungle research expeditions. Even in space.
This is a picture from the International Space Station in 2009. The crew is assembled for a meal and in this case to take a photo of a Moonrock that happened to be visiting the ISS. — NASA
Related links.
2024 Preview: Dale Andersen’s Field Report: Preview: 2024 Lake Untersee Field Season
Keith: Dale and I have been proving research updates – from Antarctica – since 1996. We think we actually had the first webserver (located in my old condo) updated from Antarctica. More details here: Andersen’s 1996 Antarctic Field Research Photo Albums
Astrobiology
