3 ms·

Wow, what was working in Antarctica like?

cozzyd 9y ago
I was working on a long-duration balloon payload (ANITA-IV), so I was in a hangar much of the time. Since it was summer, it wasn't that cold, but the constant daylight is disorienting. The isolation from the rest of the world is the hardest part, even though at McMurdo, unlike pole, there is (slow) internet all day long. McMurdo is an interesting place with a lot of fascinating people and the scenery is very beautiful. As our balloon launched pretty quickly after we were ready to launch, I unfortunately didn't get much downtime to do all of the hiking trails and such (but on the plus side, I got to go home earlier). If you ever get a chance to go (either as a scientist or, possibly more likely for many, as support staff), I highly recommend it.
- GuiA 9y ago
  Maciej Ceglowski wrote about McMurdo: http://idlewords.com/2016/05/shuffleboard_at_mcmurdo.htm http://idlewords.com/2016/05/shuffleboard_at_mcmurdo.htm
- nolok 9y ago
  Always been a dream of mine, sadly I don't think as a lowly French IT person that there is a way for me to have that experience. Thanks for sharing
  - mseebach 9y ago
    Have some growth mindset :) > France operates two stations in Antarctica: Dumont d’Urville Station, in Adelie Land, and the French-Italian joint Concordia Station. Dumont d’Urville was built in 1956 on Petrel Island where it houses a maximum of 30 people in winter (about 100 in summer). Concordia was built in 1997 and is operated year round since 2005. It can house 15 people in winter and 60 people in summer. The inland Concordia Station is re-supplied annually by three ground traverses leaving Cap Prudhomme Station, a small annex station of Dumont d’Urville. In addition, France operates three stations in the Sub-antarctic islands: Crozet, Kerguelen and Amsterdam Islands. https://www.comnap.aq/Members/IPEV/SitePages/Home.aspx https://www.comnap.aq/Members/IPEV/SitePages/Home.aspx Qualified IT personnel are in demand. If this is something you want to do and you apply yourself towards this goal, I'm sure it's quite achievable.
  - rflrob 9y ago
    I have a friend who sometimes works at Pole, and they apparently do need people to winter over and manage the IT infrastructure. I don't know whether they have citizenship requirements (it's a US-led station), but it's apparently a hard enough position to recruit for (six+ months in the dark) that they might be flexible.
    - cozzyd 9y ago
      I believe that this is the US Antarctic Program's IT contractor's jobs page: https://ghgcorp.applicantpro.com/jobs/ https://ghgcorp.applicantpro.com/jobs/ It looks like they only hire Americans though (probably some requirement imposed on the contractor). There are of course lots of other contractors for other sorts of jobs.
  - mgerdts 9y ago
    Project ice cube seems to always be looking for people to winter over. I suppose the hiking isn't as good then. :) http://icecube.wisc.edu/jobs http://icecube.wisc.edu/jobs Since the employment would not be in the US, I'm guessing that no work visa would be required. If you are really interested, I think it would be worth your while to contact them.
  - seszett 9y ago
    Depends on what age you are, if you are less than 30 it's not very difficult to get to Dumont d'Urville. I went to Kerguelen island myself as a sysadmin (14 months, a winterover). I had the choice between Kerguelen, Crozet, New Amsterdam and Dumont d'Urville, I don't regret my choice at all even if Kerguelen lacks the special distinction of being on Antarctica. The Polar Institute, IPEV, recruits about 10 or so IT-related personnel each year (though only two recruitments are for pure sysadmin types - Kerguelen and Dumont d'Urville) under a civilian service contract. It's worth trying it if you're less than 30. Otherwise it's going to be difficult, and even more so for Concordia I'm afraid.
    - cozzyd 9y ago
      I've always been strangely fascinated by Kerguelen. Maybe I should try to figure out if I can justify doing an experiment there...
      - seszett 9y ago
        There's a cosmic rays detector that I was in charge of, even if I have little idea how it works. Apparently, it requires some very toxic gas (I have forgotten its name... something with -fluor- in it maybe?) that has since become forbidden from shipping. So there are a few spares remaining on the island (forbidden from shipping away anyway) but no legal way to keep operating once they are used up.

I was working on a long-duration balloon payload (ANITA-IV), so I was in a hangar much of the time. Since it was summer, it wasn't that cold, but the constant daylight is disorienting. The isolation from the rest of the world is the hardest part, even though at McMurdo, unlike pole, there is (slow) internet all day long. McMurdo is an interesting place with a lot of fascinating people and the scenery is very beautiful. As our balloon launched pretty quickly after we were ready to launch, I unfortunately didn't get much downtime to do all of the hiking trails and such (but on the plus side, I got to go home earlier). If you ever get a chance to go (either as a scientist or, possibly more likely for many, as support staff), I highly recommend it.

GuiA 9y ago
Maciej Ceglowski wrote about McMurdo: http://idlewords.com/2016/05/shuffleboard_at_mcmurdo.htm http://idlewords.com/2016/05/shuffleboard_at_mcmurdo.htm
nolok 9y ago
Always been a dream of mine, sadly I don't think as a lowly French IT person that there is a way for me to have that experience. Thanks for sharing
- mseebach 9y ago
  Have some growth mindset :) > France operates two stations in Antarctica: Dumont d’Urville Station, in Adelie Land, and the French-Italian joint Concordia Station. Dumont d’Urville was built in 1956 on Petrel Island where it houses a maximum of 30 people in winter (about 100 in summer). Concordia was built in 1997 and is operated year round since 2005. It can house 15 people in winter and 60 people in summer. The inland Concordia Station is re-supplied annually by three ground traverses leaving Cap Prudhomme Station, a small annex station of Dumont d’Urville. In addition, France operates three stations in the Sub-antarctic islands: Crozet, Kerguelen and Amsterdam Islands. https://www.comnap.aq/Members/IPEV/SitePages/Home.aspx https://www.comnap.aq/Members/IPEV/SitePages/Home.aspx Qualified IT personnel are in demand. If this is something you want to do and you apply yourself towards this goal, I'm sure it's quite achievable.
- rflrob 9y ago
  I have a friend who sometimes works at Pole, and they apparently do need people to winter over and manage the IT infrastructure. I don't know whether they have citizenship requirements (it's a US-led station), but it's apparently a hard enough position to recruit for (six+ months in the dark) that they might be flexible.
  - cozzyd 9y ago
    I believe that this is the US Antarctic Program's IT contractor's jobs page: https://ghgcorp.applicantpro.com/jobs/ https://ghgcorp.applicantpro.com/jobs/ It looks like they only hire Americans though (probably some requirement imposed on the contractor). There are of course lots of other contractors for other sorts of jobs.
- mgerdts 9y ago
  Project ice cube seems to always be looking for people to winter over. I suppose the hiking isn't as good then. :) http://icecube.wisc.edu/jobs http://icecube.wisc.edu/jobs Since the employment would not be in the US, I'm guessing that no work visa would be required. If you are really interested, I think it would be worth your while to contact them.
- seszett 9y ago
  Depends on what age you are, if you are less than 30 it's not very difficult to get to Dumont d'Urville. I went to Kerguelen island myself as a sysadmin (14 months, a winterover). I had the choice between Kerguelen, Crozet, New Amsterdam and Dumont d'Urville, I don't regret my choice at all even if Kerguelen lacks the special distinction of being on Antarctica. The Polar Institute, IPEV, recruits about 10 or so IT-related personnel each year (though only two recruitments are for pure sysadmin types - Kerguelen and Dumont d'Urville) under a civilian service contract. It's worth trying it if you're less than 30. Otherwise it's going to be difficult, and even more so for Concordia I'm afraid.
  - cozzyd 9y ago
    I've always been strangely fascinated by Kerguelen. Maybe I should try to figure out if I can justify doing an experiment there...
    - seszett 9y ago
      There's a cosmic rays detector that I was in charge of, even if I have little idea how it works. Apparently, it requires some very toxic gas (I have forgotten its name... something with -fluor- in it maybe?) that has since become forbidden from shipping. So there are a few spares remaining on the island (forbidden from shipping away anyway) but no legal way to keep operating once they are used up.