Devon's chilly, but having a great time.

Devon's Antarctica Adventures
Journal Entry 6
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By Devon, 19

When I'm in between science teams I get to shadow the employees who support the science trades and see what they do on the ice. This week I spent time with the linemen (doing power stuff), the electricians, the post office staff, and the janitors. I helped them wherever I could and learned all about their lives on the ice. My favorite group so far has been the people who work in the heavy machinery office. A few of their guys brought me out to Pegasus Airfield and let me play with the machines.

The Fleet Ops Team

Pegasus Airfield is where we will eventually move the planes—for the moment they are out on the sea ice, closer to town. When the ice starts to melt, we will have to move them on to the ice shelf where the snow will not melt. Fleet Ops, the heavy machinery folks, are the ones who make the landing strip and the parking lots and the roads throughout the area. The four guys that are assigned to Pegasus do it all on their own, so they really enjoyed showing me the ropes.

Constructing a Road

The field is named "Pegasus" because of a plane that crashed in the 1970s. They relocated the plane to the ice-shelf and now it is there for everyone to see when they go to the field. I made this year's road leading from the landing strip to the plane by driving a snow-grooming machine (called a Challenger) that had a grate attached to the back of it that smoothed out the snow and grated it, making it more accessible to smaller vehicles. After visiting the plane I made a second road for the electricians to use when setting up the runway lights. I had a blast getting to be a tourist and make a road at the same time!

A Ride on the D8

Next they let me drive the BIGGEST machine on the ice—called a D8, or as it is more commonly known, a bulldozer. It was huge! The blade alone was much taller than me, and it was very hard to control. I ended up putting 4-foot deep holes into the runway. Slowly I got the hang of it, and it got easier as time went on. It was definitely a good experience, though I think I liked working with the road-making machines a bit more.

Snow Removal Made Easy

Lastly, I was able to drive the Challenger again, this time with the Kodiak (a monstrous snow blower) attached. I cleared part of a parking lot and sent snow flying 40 feet into the air! I only got to spend half a day with them, but it was great.

See You There

Next, I'm off to meet up with the Marshians, my next science group.