28 November, 1999

McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica

Sunday

Today was Father Bede's last Sunday Mass at Chapel of the Snows! He will be sorely missed when he leaves on Thursday.

The gas chromatograph (GC) has decided to have a mind of it's own! We continue to obtain good data, but it is at the expense of long hours and much improvising. Again, this is what science is all about! How do we get this instrument to behave with the equipment and supplies at hand? We have used aluminum foil, a hair dryer, a light bulb, and different techniques for pulling the gas from the vial into the hypodermic needle! It is frustrating work and by 9 p.m., it has taken it's toll on you physically and emotionally! I'm surprised that we still talk to each other after such long days!

After singing at Mass, I worked on the GC, ate meals, worked on the GC some more, and at 8:30 p.m. I tried to write journals, but by 9 p.m., I was making computer errors that put my digital images at risk and so decided to call it a night!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How fast does the ice move on the Polar Plateau? The Polar Plateau is the snow-covered, ice-covered land that covers the South Pole and surrounding areas. Remember that the South Pole is at an elevation over 10,000 feet above sea level.

POLAR PROFILE: On this day in 1979, an Air New Zealand DC-10, carrying 257 people, crashed into the side of Mount Erebus, just a few miles from McMurdo. The plane was part of a 'flightseeing' trip that originated in Auckland, New Zealand. These trips, giving tourists the opportunity to see Antarctica, were once very common.

Air traffic controllers lost radio contact with the plane and hoped that it had made an emergency landing somewhere on the sea ice. No one knew for certain what had happened to the plane. A rescue mission was organized and shortly thereafter, a U.S. C-130 (the plane on which I'll fly back to New Zealand) spotted wreckage on the northeast slope of Mount Erebus. Unable to land, the C-130 crew reported their findings and soon a Huey helicopter put three New Zealand mountaineers from Scott Base, at the crash site. They found no survivors. Only 213 bodies out of the 257 people on board, were recovered. For this reason, the site has been designated a Special Protected Area under the Antarctic Treaty. It has been preserved as a tomb for the 44 people whose bodies still rest on Mount Erebus.

Many years passed before investigators determined that pilot error and faulty programming of navigational systems, caused the plane to crash in heavy clouds. The plane was traveling at 300 miles an hour.

Air New Zealand and Qantas Airlines, discontinued the flightseeing trips to Antarctica. On Thursday of last week, Father Bede and several representatives from Scott Base, the New Zealand research station on Ross Island, laid wreaths at the foot of a cross erected at the crash site. Father Bede also conducted a memorial service at Scott Base today.

Sharon

JUST FOR KIDS!!!!! Have you ever tried to play with a toy and it just would not do what the commercial said it should do? Today, the gas chromatograph (GC) would not work the way it was supposed to and I was very frustrated! Part of being a scientist includes using what you have in your drawers and cabinets to make everything work as best as it can! We were using aluminum foil that you would find in your kitchen! We used a hair dryer! We even used a light bulb to try to fix our problem. The hair dryer worked the best, but by the time we figured it all out, it was very late. We had worked all day and it was bedtime and we were still working! I hope that tomorrow, the GC behaves itself!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How fast does the ice move on the Polar Plateau? The Polar Plateau is the snow-covered, ice-covered land that covers the South Pole and surrounding areas. Remember that the South Pole is at an elevation over 10,000 feet above sea level.

POLAR PROFILE: On this day in 1979, an Air New Zealand DC-10, carrying 257 people, crashed into the side of Mount Erebus, just a few miles from McMurdo. The plane was part of a 'flightseeing' trip that originated in Auckland, New Zealand. These trips gave tourists the opportunity to see Antarctica.

Air traffic controllers lost radio contact with the plane and hoped that it had made an emergency landing somewhere on the sea ice. No one knew for certain what had happened to the plane. A rescue mission was organized. An U.S. C-130 airplane found the wrecked plane on the side of Mount Erebus. The crew reported what they had found and soon a Huey helicopter delivered three New Zealand mountaineers from Scott Base, to the crash site. They found no survivors. The site has been preserved as a Special Protected Area because some of the people on the plane were never found.

Air New Zealand and Qantas Airlines do not have the flightseeing trips to Antarctica anymore. On Thursday of last week, Father Bede and several people from Scott Base, the New Zealand research station on Ross Island, laid wreaths at the foot of a cross that was erected at the crash site. Father Bede also had a memorial service at Scott Base today.

Sharon

Mount Erebus. Photo by Steve Arcone