Week 11 at the Pole

Large, bright sun low in the sky at the South Pole, with some wispy clouds and two people walking together in the distance.
Kevin Zagorski, SPT/NSF

It was another busy week at the Pole, with many trips out to the IceCube Lab (ICL) for IceCube’s winterovers. They had to do some detector maintenance and troubleshooting out at the ICL, but they also made the trek out to help others debug certain issues with the power supplies. Toward the end of the week, they began assembly of a new IceAct mount, another activity they needed to do at the ICL. They decided to test the clearance of the partially assembled mount to make sure it would fit through the ICL doors (below) before completing the construction of the mount inside. Smart move (and looks like it fits). There was still continued ERT training last week, as there often is—this time the team did a full simulation drill in which they had to pack up a patient for transport. The sun is low but was out last week (it will be gone soon), and IceCube winterover Kalvin captured a nice photo of a sun halo outside the station.

Person in red parka pushing a metal frame through the opened exterior doors of the IceCube Lab.
Connor Duffy, IceCube/NSF
Training drill in gym at South Pole station, with several people crouched around, positioning a “patient” on a stretcher.
Kalvin Moschkau, IceCube/NSF
Sun halo of low sun near sunset at South Pole.
Kalvin Moschkau, IceCube/NSF