Last week, the Upgrade season continued its wind-down, with people leaving and activities at the Pole focused on packing up cargo and winterizing the drill camp. For example, emptied water hoses were wrangled into tanks for long-term storage, and the drill tower and DOM handling facility had to be moved out to the storage berm. Commissioning progressed steadily on all six deployed strings. Besides the Upgrade wrap-up work, there were outreach talks at the station, a tour of the IceCube Lab, and an open house (with hot chocolate and cookies!) at a nearby igloo—a special project taken on by the station doctor using ice blocks harvested from some tunneling work.
They’re getting close to drilling at the South Pole. Last week saw a continued influx of IceCube personnel, including some drillers and integration experts. The week’s primary focus was taking stock and working on final tasks in each work area. Crews tested the brakes on the large reel for the main drill …
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 …
This is the final Upgrade Update as the last field work tasks have been completed and all the Upgrade personnel have left or are scheduled to leave the South Pole. Clear skies and sunshine show off the organized lineup of Upgrade drill towers and other structures that have been moved to the science …
