The main entrance to the South Pole station is known as Destination Alpha—this image shows a view out onto the frosty tundra from there at early sunrise. Below we see the sun itself, already part way up in the sky. Last week, IceCube’s winterovers had some detector work to attend to in addition to their continued efforts toward spring (summer) cleaning on station. The entire winter crew is in full-cleaning mode—wiping down walls, scrubbing stairwells, and cleaning carpets—in preparation for the summer season’s visitors, still a few weeks away. In the meantime, a few small aircraft are expected to make pitstops at the Pole next week on their way to McMurdo station. That will bring a little action.
