Good Bye, Ethan

The baton was passed yesterday, as Ethan left the station and I officially took over the reins of the Space Weather Laboratory at the South Pole.  I spent the last 10 days working in the lab and in the field with Ethan and learning the ropes during what we call "turnover".  I have learned how to shovel 3 feet of snow and ice to access a vault containing delicate instruments, how to crawl in, and how to calibrate instruments at -40 F; I learned what to do in case of a power outage (not an uncommon event here at South Pole); how to detect cosmic rays; how to receive radio waves and turn them into images of the sky; and how to monitor and troubleshoot all kinds of instrumentation.  Ethan has also taught me the way around the staion, the dos and dont's.  I couldn't have made it this far this quick without him.  Thank you, Ethan!

Ethan (left) passing me the keys to the Space Weather Lab for the next 12 months, on the South Pole skiway.

Good bye, Ethan, and good luck on your next adventure!