Deep Field Logistics

McMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA

As big fat flakes fall lazily from the sky, I wonder if tomorrow’s planes will be able to take off for the deep field. Another 20,000 lbs of cargo is set to fly to Byrd Surface camp, up on the polar plateau. My job is to make sure that the heaps of stuff sitting in the cargo yard make it out to the field camps in time. The challenge, as always, is weather. Byrd Camp, operational off and on since the 60’s, was delayed in opening for the season due to weather, and the ongoing weather and equipment issues have meant a constant shuffle of cargo, adding and subtracting cargo to each flight to try to get needed materials out to camp in the right order. (The boxes of frozen food became suddenly more important when I realized they contain the thanksgiving turkeys). Each plane that flies from McMurdo to the deep field is limited in both space and weight capacity, and I’m the one who sifts through pages of spreadsheets, piecing together a puzzle of crates and boxes and the occasional vehicle until everything has its place, and then pass off the task of physically arranging it all to an incredible team of cargo handlers who work their magic, cramming more onto each pallet than one might think possible.

This year a traverse will leave from Byrd hauling all of the materials and science equipment to build a field camp on the Pine Island Glacier, the fastest moving ice flow in the world. But in order for the traverse crew to pull out, the cargo first has to get there. If the weather holds, there will be six LC-130 flights in the next four days, hauling 100,000 pounds of cargo, along with a dozen passengers.

As another Sunday ends all too quickly, I take a deep breath and get ready to buckle down for my busiest weeks yet.