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Last Flight Out

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Re: Last Flight Out

#301

Post by a-priori »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #38

As someone who has lived rather isolated for long stretches, I think the one thing that helps fight feeling isolated is to find your joy and practice it. My joy is in creative outlets. When I'm alone, I sing, woodwork, cook new recipes, garden [indoors or out], sew. If I had a large indoor space I'd probably practice slacklining, aerial arts, tumbling, parkour, climbing. And then there's the computer, where I can cre…

I think a lot of those physical things you suggested, like parkour and climbing, would be extremely risky because the last thing you'd want is to injure yourself in the middle of an Antarctic winter.

Re: Last Flight Out

#302

Post by golergka »

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #234

These stories about the logistics at Amundsen-Scott are a fascinating glimpse at the level of logistical complexity that'd be required for an off-planet (Moon, Mars...) base. Every time I see people get excited about Martian human habitation, I note a lack of discussion of the essential intermediate step: a fully self-sustaining base in the most inhospitable parts of Earth. Where are the Biosphere++ projects? And Amu…

> Every time I see people get excited about Martian human habitation, I note a lack of discussion of the essential intermediate step: a fully self-sustaining base in the most inhospitable parts of Earth.

I remember a pretty popular book and a Hollywood starring Matt Damon which primarily focused on this exact problem.

Re: Last Flight Out

#303

Post by jasonwatkinspdx »

qikInNdOutReply wrote: post #294
mjevans wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An unfortunate early design. Hopefully the engineering knowledge and access to far better design tools that have developed in the interleaving ~50 years would allow for a much better design today. Though my hopes must be tempered by the prospect of greed. It would be better if the government(s) created an open design which could reuse off the shelf or components that any corporation could compete to create.

Eh, no.. a failed concept, to grasp the techological deep roots needed to supply something with specialists and machinery at all times, at a location that is 9 months off limits.

DARPA and NASA are currently developing designs to do exactly that under Kilopower, Megapower, and similar programs. Enabling long duration unmanned deep space missions is explicitly one of NASA's goals with this.

Re: Last Flight Out

#304

Post by foobarbecue »

kjs3 wrote: post #300
foobarbecue wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, many people who spent time at McMurdo around the filming of Encounters are not big fans. The interviews were intentionally set up to make people look weird. The narration implies there's something wrong with "polar people." You might find us dissapointingly normal. A Year On Ice is a more accurate representation. I'm in Frozen Planet, but you can't believe all the narration in that either.

any people who spent time at McMurdo around the filming of Encounters are not big fans They didn't check out any of Werner Herzogs movies before letting him in? They would have known what they were in for.

Fair point. Actually come to think of it most of the people I talked to who were IN the documentary were ok with it (and my volcanology professor went in to make 2 more movies with Herzog after meeting him during Encounters). It was others at mcmurdo that were angry about the portrayal of the town and generalizations about polar people. Maybe people just seized on it as something to argue about when bored, I dunno.

Re: Last Flight Out

#305

Post by foobarbecue »

wkat4242 wrote: post #260
foobarbecue wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh ok one more story. There is a road connecting McMurdo (US) and Scott Base (New Zealand). I think it's only a few miles. So I'm sitting in the McMurdo driving training you have to take before you're allowed to take a truck out. Get to the end of the lecture. Instructor: "Any questions?" I ask, "yeah... so, New Zealanders drive on the left, and we drive on the right, right? Which side do we drive on if we go to Scot…

So where did you drive? I suppose encountering another vehicle was extremely unlikely. I'm surprised they had a training for this. Is it more of a legal thing? Ps thanks for the insightful stories!

Some of it was legal ass-covering but also rules about vehicle heaters, wheel chocks, radios, fueling, checking out and in etc. I only walked to Scott, never ended up driving. Drove to building 71 a lot to install and service radios taking to my equipment on Erebus, and to and from the helipad.

Oh yeah and some of the trucks have treads instead of wheels (matttracks) so those take some learning.

Re: Last Flight Out

#306

Post by foobarbecue »

verandaguy wrote: post #296
foobarbecue wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, many people who spent time at McMurdo around the filming of Encounters are not big fans. The interviews were intentionally set up to make people look weird. The narration implies there's something wrong with "polar people." You might find us dissapointingly normal. A Year On Ice is a more accurate representation. I'm in Frozen Planet, but you can't believe all the narration in that either.

It sounds like you either are or were formerly posted in the Antarctic — any advice about how to get involved, and maybe get a shift working there, as a civilian with a technical background but without much in the way of a research background? Or is it just totally off the table?

Used to be pretty easy to sign up as a dishwasher or that kind of thing. If you are in interested in science, find a PI looking for grad students. Edit: I read more closely. There are technical grantee groups as well, like UNAVCO and IRIS PASSCAL. Not too hard to get a job with one of those.

Lots of ways in... Everybody I know who has really tried has made it down there.

Re: Last Flight Out

#307

Post by qikInNdOutReply »

jasonwatkinspdx wrote: post #303
qikInNdOutReply wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, no.. a failed concept, to grasp the techological deep roots needed to supply something with specialists and machinery at all times, at a location that is 9 months off limits.

DARPA and NASA are currently developing designs to do exactly that under Kilopower, Megapower, and similar programs. Enabling long duration unmanned deep space missions is explicitly one of NASA's goals with this.

And then the helium and hydrogen, turned the containement vessel into a sieve over the long run, pushing the vessel of course. The end.

Re: Last Flight Out

#308

Post by [deleted] »

morsch wrote: post #217
hcrisp wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember watching this. Turns out BBC Natural History documentaries are more theater than just documentaries. If you watch the "making of" clips at the end of some of the series, you do get the sense that they may not be just captured natural footage as much as highly-scripted activities with the actions of the cameramen, crew, etc. edited out. Still fun to watch, but isn't being manipulated as a viewer disingenuou…

At this point I can't really enjoy documentaries like that anymore. I keep thinking "they brought a steadicam down there?" or "where is all that light coming from?" The fourth wall is thoroughly broken. Thanks, I'd rather watch a poorly lit Youtube video with a guy talking to his Gopro. I wonder what the equivalent of that would be for animal documentaries.

[deleted]

Re: Last Flight Out

#309

Post by AceJohnny2 »

Grimburger wrote: post #285
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #234

These stories about the logistics at Amundsen-Scott are a fascinating glimpse at the level of logistical complexity that'd be required for an off-planet (Moon, Mars...) base. Every time I see people get excited about Martian human habitation, I note a lack of discussion of the essential intermediate step: a fully self-sustaining base in the most inhospitable parts of Earth. Where are the Biosphere++ projects? And Amu…

> Where are the Biosphere++ projects? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARS-500

No, that was more of a psychological/social experiment that didn't seem to have closed life-support systems.

Re: Last Flight Out

#310

Post by hannasanarion »

gpm wrote: post #196
hannasanarion wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you figure 120 years? The first South Pole Station was Old Amudsen Scott which started operations in 1957 (65 years ago), the winter of 57-58 was the first time humans stayed through the long night at the pole.

Wikipedia is claiming that the Omond House - 1903 - was the first permanent base. Renamed to Orcadas Base in 1904 and permanently inhabited since. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orcadas_Base

Orcadas Base is 60°S, if that's a pole station than so is St Petersburg.
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