Southbound

On the way to Antarctica, I ran into Dr. Kathy Sullivan, the first Director for the new Ohio State University, Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy at the John Glenn School of Public Affairs. (She has previously been the director for COSI, our excellent science education museum in Columbus). She is part of a Distinguished Visitors tour of Antarctica. Also here from OSU, is Dr. David Elliot, Dr. Larry Krissek, and Dr. Matt Saltzman and Jeremy Gouldey- all affiliated with the School of Earth Sciences. OSU is well represented.

On the C-17 here (a 5 hour flight from Christchurch to McMurdo Station, Antarctica) the flats made themselves comfortable on the cargo crate in front of me...
But when I got up to stretch my legs a little, the quickly made themselves comfortable in Big Red (the proper name for a downy parka).
So I enticed them with a tour of the front of the plane, including a quick hello to the flight staff.
Here is a better view of our luxury seating, coupled with the sound of massive engines muted only by yellow foam and dreams of our destination.
We all had a look out the window, waiting for the first sign of ice.
After I get some field prep done, I'll go hike around and take some more pictures of McMurdo, I will be here for another 3 days getting things together and attending a snow school refresher course (this is a survival course to prepare all people who go into the field for the harsh conditions we may face).