4 ms·

November?! How hard could it be to supply the station with fresh food once a month?

david2ndaccount 3y ago
See one of their previous posts: <https://brr.fyi/posts/last-flight-out https://brr.fyi/posts/last-flight-out>
idlewords 3y ago
It's really hard! Reasons include: - Ambient temperatures too low for most fuels and lubricants, and out of spec for most other parts of the aircraft - No hope of rescue if the plane goes down or gets lost - No reliable way to light the runway. In the past they've used gasoline filled drums, but it can get so cold that the gasoline vapor pressure is too low and it won't light. - Extreme isolation—there's really nowhere a flight can divert to south of New Zealand apart from McMurdo, which has its own problems Remember that the South Pole station is just a small structure on top of a featureless high plateau. There are no paved runways, navigational aids, no heated hangars, no infrastructure of any kind to support aircraft arriving in the dead of night. The risk has been worth taking for urgent medevac flights, but no one is going to gamble with aircrews' lives over a bunch of eggs.
- PettingRabbits 3y ago
  I wonder if a one-way UAV cargo plane could make the trip. Might not be worth it for eggs, but maybe something more important.
  - bacon_waffle 3y ago
    Planes like C17 can overfly and airdrop stuff. https://weaknuclearforce.wordpress.com/2013/11/17/up-on-the-roof/ https://weaknuclearforce.wordpress.com/2013/11/17/up-on-the-...
- lmm 3y ago
  It's not hard, just expensive. Airdropping supplies through winter was routine until it was cut for budgetary reasons.
  - wpietri 3y ago
    I find that a weird comment when he just explained why it was hard.
  - idlewords 3y ago
    At the South Pole? A 2011 midwinter airdrop of emergency medical supplies was treated as a big deal; when did it become routine?
    - lmm 3y ago
      It was routine up until IIRC 1996-1999 (which lines up with when they switched over from Navy to National Guard operation).
      - idlewords 3y ago
        You sure we don't have an austral winter/calendar winter misunderstanding here?
        lmm 3y ago
        The source I remember was specifically criticising the media coverage of the later one.

See one of their previous posts: <https://brr.fyi/posts/last-flight-out https://brr.fyi/posts/last-flight-out>

It's really hard! Reasons include: - Ambient temperatures too low for most fuels and lubricants, and out of spec for most other parts of the aircraft - No hope of rescue if the plane goes down or gets lost - No reliable way to light the runway. In the past they've used gasoline filled drums, but it can get so cold that the gasoline vapor pressure is too low and it won't light. - Extreme isolation—there's really nowhere a flight can divert to south of New Zealand apart from McMurdo, which has its own problems Remember that the South Pole station is just a small structure on top of a featureless high plateau. There are no paved runways, navigational aids, no heated hangars, no infrastructure of any kind to support aircraft arriving in the dead of night. The risk has been worth taking for urgent medevac flights, but no one is going to gamble with aircrews' lives over a bunch of eggs.

PettingRabbits 3y ago
I wonder if a one-way UAV cargo plane could make the trip. Might not be worth it for eggs, but maybe something more important.
- bacon_waffle 3y ago
  Planes like C17 can overfly and airdrop stuff. https://weaknuclearforce.wordpress.com/2013/11/17/up-on-the-roof/ https://weaknuclearforce.wordpress.com/2013/11/17/up-on-the-...
lmm 3y ago
It's not hard, just expensive. Airdropping supplies through winter was routine until it was cut for budgetary reasons.
- wpietri 3y ago
  I find that a weird comment when he just explained why it was hard.
- idlewords 3y ago
  At the South Pole? A 2011 midwinter airdrop of emergency medical supplies was treated as a big deal; when did it become routine?
  - lmm 3y ago
    It was routine up until IIRC 1996-1999 (which lines up with when they switched over from Navy to National Guard operation).
    - idlewords 3y ago
      You sure we don't have an austral winter/calendar winter misunderstanding here?
      - lmm 3y ago
        The source I remember was specifically criticising the media coverage of the later one.