The NISSE launch campaign The launch campaign of the REXUS 5/6 rockets started on 2 Mar and will last until 15 Mar, 2009. According to the latest time schedule, REXUS 6 with NISSE onboard will be launched next Tuesday 10 Mar, and the other rocket REXUS 5 on Thursday 12 Mar. But this may also turn to be vice versa. The NISSE team has been busy with last preparations of the experiment for the launch. Vidar Hølland and Gard Mellemstrand has been concentrating on the payload assembly and Timo Pitkänen has taken care of the preparations for the EISCAT radar measurements. The fourth member of the team, Gisela Baumann, arrived at Esrange today and will stay for the rest of the campaign. Follow the NISSE Countdown blog at ...

The last flight has flown and weve had the first sunset of the year, which means winter is on the way here at Scott Base. The base is now in winter operations mode, which means extra clothing and equipment when we leave base and remembering to plug-in the vehicles to keep them warm when theyre parked. It also means that once weve eaten all the fresh fruit and veg, there won't be anymore until August. Fortunately, we just had a large shipment of freshies, so were torn between rationing them and eating them before they go bad. Except for the bananas, for which we have a strict quota system - we've got a mountain of them to get through and everyone has to eat their daily quota! Recipe suggestions suggestions are welcome. Although winter operations are in full sw...

A message from the ITASC IPY 0809 expedition February 25 — We are in the middle of the Southern Ocean at 51 degrees south, tracking the Greenwich Meridian still six days out of Cape Town, and unfortunately we cannot join you in Geneva tonight.   We are with you in spirit though and celebrating the IPY tonight with a toast onboard the South African Antarctic research vessel SA Agulhas. On behalf of ITASC expedition leader Ntsikelelo Ntshingila, crew members Erika Blumenfeld, Lotter Kock and myself, and all the scientists and engineers who joined us at the ICEPAC IPY Base during its insta...

We've been on base for almost two weeks now, which we have mostly spent unpacking boxes and testing instruments. This has been our number one priority as the last cargo flight before winter is on February 20 in just six days time, so if we've forgotten anything important, we'd better find out now! The last passenger flight is due to arrive on February 23 and that will take home the last of the summer base crew leaving just 26 of us for the winter. To get to know each other better and learn survival skills that could prove vital in the coming months, half of the wintering-over crew spent the last two days taking part in winter Antarctic Field Training. As well as learning the ins and outs of the most common types of tent used down here, we were also given a given a masterclass in makin...