Maintenance Day

Today we spent the day watching the drill being gently warmed by heating pads. Lots of icicles formed and we lost about 10 kg in weight, so hopefully we have managed to clear the blockage. Tomorrow will tell (although the weather may keep us on station - North Winds).

The weather - the forecast has become terrible. They don't launch weather balloons from Summit anymore (US Federal budget cuts), so we can never be sure.

We also changed the oil in the generator - exciting day.

The Science team did come to see us through - they needed to survey the location of the two remaining holes that we need to drill. That done, they were more than willing to help us move the rig. Much digging done very quickly with so many of the RNO-G team helping out.

The plan is to start the next hole tomorrow. Stay tuned to see if the melting day did anything so the drill. Who says I don't do suspenseful writing.

Our cargo lines looking towards the Station Operations Facility

Delia up the tower with a warm drill

Icicles

Drill climbing selfie

A digging RNO-G team

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