Rockin' the Green Beam

Well, here we are one week down, or at least I think it has been a week.  I really don't know what day of the week it is, they have all blended together.  We have had high winds, clear nights with -40F temps and days were there is little to no blowing snow.  I'm sitting out at the Mobile Science Facility (MSF) and looking west and the horizon looks very far off and crisp today.  There are clouds, but the surface is extremely clear.  An altogether beautiful scene.

I sent out and email last night to my family that stated "We are Rocking the Green Beam tonight."  I got quite the few emails asking what I meant by that phrase.  Well, for a long drawn out explanation (LDOE) I am here to work on a LIDAR which uses a Green Nd:Yag laser.  Hence the "Green".  The work we were doing last night was turning on the laser for the first time to see if we could align it with our new optical setup.  To do this we move the beam around in the sky until we see the return in our telescope, aka "Rocking the Beam".  So "We Rocked the Green Beam last night."

Some of the other drama that has been going on is the lack of ANG flights.  We still have not had any flights into Summit Camp besides the one I came in on.  We think that there is a possible flight next week, but we are not sure.   So, for the time being, I am still in the clothes I arrived in.  Here is an inventory of what I have with me, clothes wise, at the current time:

1 pair blue jeans
1 pair wool socks
1 pair cotton socks
1 pair thermal underware
1 t-shirt
1 polo shirt
2 pairs of underware

That's it.  That is all the clothing I have until my luggage shows up.  I managed to take a shower yesterday and wash all of my clothes.  I wore my Carhartt bib and my fleece jacket while everything else was in the washer and dryer.  I have some ideas on how to make that easier the next time I get the chance to do laundry.

Well, it is time for me to get back to work, I'm also writing and doing all of the safety documents for the project.  I'll post more this weekend.

He is Risen!