Dale Andersen’s Astrobiology Antarctic Status Report: 3 November 2024: Preparing For Science Diving
Keith’s note: Astrobiologist Dale Andersen is back in Antarctica at Lake Untersee for another field season of Research (preview). Dale’s work is coordinated through the SETI Institute. We’ll be posting his updates here. You can read about his prior exploits here.
Update: Keith’s note: Dale just sent me this video of weather conditions this evening at Lake Untersee, Antarctica
Hello all,
Today, we set up our final shelter from Alaska Structures—a compact 8×10 ft Weatherport. This addition to our camp will serve as a gear storage area and a dedicated workspace for maintaining equipment like portable generators. This new setup enhances our research capabilities, giving us a much-needed sheltered space for technical work and gear protection.
Throughout the day, weather conditions have been gradually changing, with low clouds, light snow, and intermittent gusty windsm moving in. The forecast doesn’t predict extreme winds, but in these remote areas, we stay vigilant. Thankfully, the strongest gusts thus far (42 mph) held off until we had secured the cover on the shelter. We then anchored it to the ice and moved some essential items inside for added protection.
Late yesterday afternoon, we worked in the south basin to set up Dan’s incubation experiment. Despite being pounded with strong gusty winds as we lowered the line into the lake, everything went well, and the incubation is now underway for the coming month.
As soon as the weather allows, we’ll begin honing in on more of our scientific objectives. First on my list is getting a dive hole melted, and we also have a significant amount of survey work ahead. For these tasks, we’ll be using our Trimble GNSS system, featuring sub-centimeter RTK precision with the R12i and R9s base station, an SX10 scanning total station, and a Mavic 3E mapping drone. Looking forward to the next steps!
Cheers from Untersee Oasis!
Dale
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: Dale Andersen’s 1996 Antarctic Field Research Photo Albums
Astrobiology
