The current forecast for the start of deep ice drilling is the weekend of December 16th, a week later than the original plan. Cargo has become a major concern in the last week with about 70,000 lbs of cargo behind schedule, mainly due to delays in shipment out of ChristChurch. NSF is investigating additional flights to help address the situation and there is also an effort underway to help get the most critical cargo items to the South Pole. IceTop construction has gone well and is currently on hold due to late deliveries of cargo shipments. DOM testing is proceeding on schedule and the data handling system is now available to the data acquisition team.
IceCube staff hosted an open house on Sunday, December 11th. About 60 people from the South Pole Station toured the drill seasonal equipment site, drill towers, IceTop, and the counting house areas. Many thanks to all IceCube staff for supporting this event and to Darryn Schneider leading the charge.
The IceCube population stands at 45 individuals.
The Enhanced Hot Water Drill Seasonal Equipment Site (SES) is fully established. The Rod Well System (RWS) is operational and the main heating plants are now being commissioned. The critical path to the start of drilling is final preparations of the large hose reel. Additional hose must be spooled onto the reel and the entire system warmed prior to the introduction of water.
This activity is expected to take three days. The second tower and tower operations structure are nearing completion. The second tower will enable drilling to move ahead while deployment of a string begins in the original tower. Deployment training was conducted with the two deployment teams.
All the surface junction boxes are in place with the power and communications connectors. Surface trenching started and the two surface cables on site will be installed allowing IceTop to proceed with the filling of tanks and powering the freeze units. The cables can be connected to the junction box and the TCH with little effort.