Glenn's trip to Scott Base (American Night)

Glenn Diskin is a scientist at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. He is flying a Laser Hygrometer instrument on the ANCTI Twin Otter. On Thursday Evening, he took a short trip over to Scott Base (the nearby New Zealand Station). Thursday is American Night at Scott Base. On any other day of the week, the folks from McMurdo Station are allow to visit by invitation only. Here is a message from Glenn with more information about his trip. I was eagerly awaiting the chance to visit Scott Base Thursday evening. Since arriving at McMurdo Station on November 14, I hadn't had a chance to do much of anything but work on my instrument. The combination of a really quick build and the great difficulty in working down here left me troubleshooting nearly full time. All I had seen were the Twin Otter, our Jamesway and the buildings on the Ice Runway airfield (McMurdo International Airport!), my dorm room in building 155 (which I shared with up to 5 roommates, depending on the night), and the galley, plus the "road" connecting the airfield to the "town." With time nearly running out to catch a shuttle over to Scott Base, I headed over to Derelict Junction, to wait with about 20 other people for the next ride. It sounded like such a journey, going all the way to Scott Base, but after about 1.5 miles, we were there. Up the hill and across the pass in the little ridge separating the U.S from the New Zealand side of the peninsula on Ross Island, and back down the hill to the Kiwi base. Not very far, but what a different feel. McMurdo feels like I imaging a mining town to be like (sort of like the town in October Sky, but smaller). It's not white and snowy. It's brown. Volcanic rock and soil are everywhere, and when the snow melts, the brown is all that's left. That plus the very functional looking buildings. But Scott Base is much smaller, all the buildings are painted the same cute green color, and it doesn't look as industrial as McMurdo does. It's more like a campground. After a quick visit to the Scott Base gift shop, for some shopping and a look at the photos and mementos on the walls, I decided to walk back to McMurdo and enjoy the view. My photographic skills aren't the best, but I tried to take some shots to capture the feel of the Kiwi side. The shot to the left is Mt. Erebus, the active volcano on the island, seen from a different view than we usually get to see it from. It's a really great walk, and I heartily recommend it to anyone!