The general progress on IceCube construction activities is very good. The current forecast for the start of deep ice drilling is December 12th or 13th, a couple of days later than the original plan of December 10th. IceTop construction is on schedule with all the surface tanks positioned in the trenches that were excavated by Raytheon Polar Support Corporation (RPSC). DOM testing is proceeding on schedule. The South Pole System for data handling is in place and will be available to the data acquisition team within the next few days.
IceCube staff at the South Pole participated in the "Beyond Einstein" webcast organized by CERN and conducted on December 1st. Tom Gaisser provided a description of IceCube and led the response during the interactive question and answer session.
The IceCube population is at 46, within the total current South Pole Station population of 258. The population level is on schedule with the season plan. To date, the South Pole Station remains ahead of the flight plan with 109 sorties to date, compared to a plan of 98. Weather conditions and temperatures were generally good over the last week. Science groups are now occupying the B2-Wing Science Lab, including IceCube where the WinterOvers have set up their main offices.
The Enhanced Hot Water Drill Seasonal Equipment Site (SES) is fully established. Water was recently added to the water tanks and is now circulating through the Rod Well System (RWS) heating plant. The opening of the rod well and start-up of the main heating plants will begin this week.
The surface cables and hoses are routed to the Tower Operations Site located at the hole numbered 29. The construction of the second tower structure is well underway and will be completed within the next few days. The second tower is necessary to support deployment concurrent with set-up for a new hole.