Upgrade Update #4

Last week’s excitement for the IceCube Upgrade project centered around moving the drill tower and operations structures into place. The location is over hole 87, which will be the first Upgrade hole (the IceCube detector has 86 holes). The installation team is also making progress on setting up the area for acceptance testing of the optical modules. Some of the modules were delivered to the South Pole last year and are stored in a cryogenics building near the station. The team is taking inventory and tagging modules to start the testing soon.
 

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  Upgrade Update #5

  December 1, 2025

  Kurt Studt, IceCube/NSF

  The IceCube Upgrade project’s progress report for last week has earned the name, as “progress” smoothly continues. The drill camp now has two tower operations sites. One will serve as the installation practice site. The image above is a view looking down from one of the towers, with the wrapped-up drill supply …

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  First field season for IceCube Upgrade ongoing at the South Pole

  February 1, 2024

  Over the past two months, a team of IceCube drill engineers have completed an impressive amount of work during the first of three consecutive field seasons for the IceCube Upgrade. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation and international collaborators.
  The goal of the project is to drill seven holes in 2025/2026 and deploy …

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  Upgrade Update #3

  November 17, 2025

  Vivian O’Dell, IceCube/NSF

  As the season progresses, the IceCube Upgrade team continues to grow. Eight more arrivals last week brought the South Pole IceCube population up to 29. As newcomers acclimated, the “old-timers” kept up with the snow grooming around drill camp—things are looking good there. They continue to shovel out other structures and have …