A day of successes and disappointments

Sarah and Anna S. enjoying a quiet moment on a sofa with snow foot rests at the end of the skiway. The sofa, 2 km from camp, is a popular spot for enjoying the white expanse of the ice sheet.

The CFA laboratory made their first measurements today! The Swiss part of the system works, except sulphate, which the crew will work on the coming days.
The water Picarro works on-line; but the gas Picarro did not get any gas, as the first core sections analysed are firn, and the gas escapes.
The U.K. fast Ion Chromatograph works, although both suppressors leak and will have to be replaced. The laser in the flow cytometer for dust studies broke down just as measurements began. Needless to say, that Ernesto was disappointed. He has been ready for several days.
The ice core loggers were happy, as they managed to go through the day without any broken cores. Otherwise, the camp looks really nice and tidy. Weather is still nice, and without snow and drifting snow, we have been able to clean up in many places. For supper Sarah served oriental duck.

What we have done today:

1. Drilling with the NEEM long drill.
2. Logging. Last bag: 933. Depth: 513.15 m.
3. Processing 23.10 m. Processed depth: 298.10 m.
4. Measurements in the CFA laboratory.
5. Grooming taxiway and apron with beam groomer.
6. Platform for processors installed in core buffer.
7. Flexmobil repaired.
8. Several pallets of retrograde cargo have been built and cargo sledges cleaned for snow.

Ad.1: This is how the drillers report looks today:
“Stable drilling. Our pitch is 2 mm at zero cutter load, 3 mm as defined by shoes. Pitch can be controlled by cable tension. It is often reduced to 1 mm at the end of most runs. Drilling current is mostly very stable around 8.7 amps, higher at end when CC is getting packed. Core breaks are slightly increasing, the last one was almost 1300 kp.
We drilled 28.10 m in 8 runs; drillers depth 503.66 m.”

Ad.5: Anna W. has been trained on the Flexmobil. She will take care of the grooming for the flight on July 9.

Weather: Fine all day. -19 °C to -10 °C, 3-11 knots from SSE.
Visibility: Unrestricted.

FL, J.P. Steffensen