United States Antarctic Program Field Manual (2024) [pdf]

Comments

Comment by foobarbecue 5 days ago

The version of this that we had when I worked on Erebus (2009-2017) was more fun.

It had a section about crossing crevasses with combinations of sleds and snomobiles and tracked vehicles, crevasse rescue etc. In the middle of otherwise serious text it said "to recover from this situation, you might elect to [something], or possibly [something else]. Either way, a change of underwear is recommended."

If people want I can try to dig it up.

EDIT: found it. p244. https://www.eol.ucar.edu/sites/default/files/files_live/priv... It's really interesting to compare these and see how USAP's risk posture has changed. No more adventures allowed.

Comment by hermitcrab 4 days ago

Reminds me of this terrifying photo:

https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryPorn/comments/rjy851/tucker_...

Comment by sans_souse 4 days ago

So wait.. does that mean they no longer recommend a change of underwear in such cases?

Comment by mmooss 5 days ago

Essential reading for field operations is §3.2f Field-Camp Liquor Rations.

Also, fwiw, it's the 6th edition dated February 2001 (per Acknowledgments).

Comment by foobarbecue 3 days ago

When I was there, McMurdo had strict limits on how much booze you could buy at the store, but no limits on how much you could drink at the bars, and there were limits on what you could order for your field camp but it was quite high -- 2.5 beers / day plus spirits on top of that if I remember correctly.

Comment by cryzinger 4 days ago

I like how the very first pages for this one are related to emergency procedures. Gotta put the critical stuff front and center!

Comment by Xss3 3 days ago

Good UX for emergency situations is underrated.

Comment by analog31 5 days ago

p244. Thanks.

Comment by foobarbecue 5 days ago

Oops! Fixed, thanks.

Comment by 5 days ago

Comment by smlavine 5 days ago

Related: a cool blog from a year or two ago from a participant in this program: https://brr.fyi

Comment by ProllyInfamous 5 days ago

I read every word on this site, last time it was posted.

The footage of the Rodriguez well (and TNT explosions), in 320x480 glory, are a time capsule of human ingenuity.

Comment by rtkwe 5 days ago

Another fun blog from Funranium Labs: https://www.funraniumlabs.com/category/antarctica/

Comment by netsharc 4 days ago

Reading the post about how a lot of tech breaks because of the slow internet https://brr.fyi/posts/engineering-for-slow-internet makes me think "Kids these days" (stupid kid coders who can't take into consideration slow or latency-filled connections) and want to take a bat into the "open space" where these dumb devs are siting around...

Comment by Xss3 3 days ago

Am a young dev but it shocks me how few of my fellow developers actually consider tech from the ground up.

Most just say 'x has y, we can use that', even when x does a thousand other things and we only want y.

They completely skip the design phase of Y because they have X.

If you design something with actual minimal requirements, ignoring frameworks and language choices, you may end up using X to do Y, but youll at least know what your system should be doing under the hood.

The thought of designing something from scratch seems to be an alien concept these days.

Comment by iainctduncan 4 days ago

Shameless plug: People into this sort of thing might be into my partner's book coming out in April. It's a beautifully written blend of science writing (penguin biology), memoir, and terrifying asides from the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. Her accounts of the wackiness of living and working out of McMurdo are really fun to read, and include all the orientation and training for which this manual was written (though she was there in 2003). And the history stuff is just hair raising.

One of my favourite lines: "There are many ways to die in Antarctica."

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/796661/where-the-ear...

(That's the Canadian publisher link, but it's coming out at the same time in the US, UK, Germany, Australia, and Russia as well, and is on all the major book things as preorder).

Comment by mackman 5 days ago

I was down there recently on a helicopter-based expedition and they set up a forward base of operations with a few days of emergency rations in case of unexpected weather that prevents you from returning to ship. I asked them what happens if the blizzard lasts more than a couple of days. Someone somewhere has a recipe book for penguins.

Comment by booi 5 days ago

I assume it tastes like… chicken?

Comment by deadbabe 5 days ago

No, penguins are pretty disgusting.

Comment by hermitcrab 4 days ago

And also have some rather disgusting personal habits:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1667192081373184000.html

Comment by optimalsolver 5 days ago

Do NOT let strange dogs into the base.

Comment by wombatpm 5 days ago

Especially if Norwegians are shooting at it from a helicopter.

Comment by hermitcrab 4 days ago

I feel there is a back story here.

Comment by clawr 4 days ago

I believe it's a reference to John Carpenter's "The Thing"

Comment by hermitcrab 4 days ago

Ok, thanks - it went over my head.

Comment by optimalsolver 4 days ago

Definitely worth a watch.

Comment by hermitcrab 4 days ago

Yes, I have seen it. But a long time ago. It is a great film.

Comment by 4 days ago

Comment by darknavi 5 days ago

I find it neat that even in a climate as hostile as the Antarctic humans still make an effort to recycle.

> Field Camp Hut Etiquette

> Sort and pack all trash and recycled materials and take them back to McMurdo Station for proper disposal.

Comment by foobarbecue 5 days ago

Oh man if you had any idea how much work goes into waste sorting & disposal there. In McMurdo every trash station has trash cans for ~10 different categories. I was always calling up the waste department to ask about classification. We would get bored and argue about the classification of juice boxes for "fun". I worked on Erebus and all of our pee & poop got helicoptered out in buckets. Food waste was shipped all the way back to CA and had to be kept frozen the whole way.

Comment by darknavi 3 days ago

Very fun insight, thanks for sharing your story!

I assume things like Starlink have made the station a lot less "boring", which might depreciate some of the "off-grid" novelty of being there.

Comment by netsharc 4 days ago

Juice boxes are cardboard, plastic and alumunium glued together and a hassle to recylce. But heck, their inventors (Tetrapak) are billionaires!

Comment by dotancohen 5 days ago

I bet that helicopter pilot was some ex-Navy F-14 pilot who liked to buzz the tower and risked his taxpayer-owned jet to save his wingman after an encounter with MiG 28s.

Comment by hermitcrab 4 days ago

I remember going to a talk on Antarctica where someone said that other nationalities would go and salvage stuff from the trash heap outside the US base at McMurdo. This was some years ago. I assume things have improved since then?

Comment by dotancohen 4 days ago

I have no idea, never been there. I was referencing Maverick from Top Gun being threatened with flying a cargo plane full of rubber dog shit.

Comment by hermitcrab 4 days ago

Sorry, posted to the wrong child thread.

Comment by teppic 5 days ago

That “orange” bag has seen better days.

Comment by baden1927 5 days ago

For waste management, x-org server/windows tiling, either for USAP risk aversion or wing aircraft GIS systems that are programmed in UNIX, are the long-leverage hold of -CTU static-build boundaries.