Henry's articles

One of my camp mates, Henry Bortman, has written a series of articles for the NASA on-line AstroBiology magazine. There is more to come I'm sure -- I'll keep you posted!

Arrival in the Arctic
http://www.astrobio.net/index.php?option=com_expedition&task=detail&id=4154


Drilling into Arctic Ice
http://www.astrobio.net/index.php?option=com_expedition&task=detail&id=4238


A Coral Reef in the Arctic
http://www.astrobio.net/index.php?option=com_expedition&task=detail&id=4224

Resolute Bay Plane Crash

Airport

Resolute Bay the town

Several people have asked me I knew any of the people on the flight that crashed just outside of Resolute on Saturday. Since all the victims have not been identified I don't know. What I was able to find out(from a Vancouver newspaper) is that at least 6 people on the flight were associated with the South Camp Inn (where I stayed) or other research/tourism support projects.

My heart goes out to the whole Resolute community as they deal with this tragedy.

Government/military area near Resolute Airport

  http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/08/21/canada.plane.crash/index.html?iref=allsearch

The Menu continued- Because we were hungry

By 7/24th I had all the food I was going to have. I was running out of fresh veggies. The apples and tangerines were history but I had new lettuce, eggs and powdered milk.


 7/25- 19 people in camp  Breakfast french toast and bacon    Lunch- sandwiches,salad, bacon/clam chowder, Thai chicken, veggie tofu soup Dinner- pulled pork, chicken in a white sauce, zucchini and onions, polenta with amazing things added to it that can never be duplicated


7/26-  Breakfast-veggie (spinach) scramble with or without bacon, kielbasa, lemon poppy seed biscuits  Lunch- sandwhiches, salad, corn and carrot chowder, ham and pea soup   Dinner- hamburgers, spinach, left over chicken, Kraft dinner ( In Canada you do not refer to this as Mac N Cheese) dessert MUD (for Girl Scouts this is Dirt with too much milk)

7/27- Breakfast- scrambled eggs , bacon and pancakes Lunch - Sloppy Joes, ham and pea soup, sandwhiches, salad  Dinner- Baked Chicken breasts with Mozzarella cheese, Italian tomatoes and sour cream, Orzo, Peas and spinach

Boiling brown sugar

7/28- Breakfast- caramelized french toast, Kielbasa Lunch sandwhiches, salad, Mac N cheese, Sloppy Joes, Corn Chowder, Ham and Pea Soup, Chicken veggie soup Dinner- Dahl, Curry Tofu and Veggies, Mexican chicken dessert- peanut butter short bread


7/29  Cooks morning off Brunch- Muffin eggs with cheese (eggs cooked in a muffin pan) Bacon, Cinnamon raisin biscuits, Dinner Teriyaki Beef Roast, Potatoes mashed with sour cream, corn and gravy dessert- 

7/30 breakfast- veggie scramble, pancakes and Kielbasa Lunch sandwhiches, salad, chicken veggie soup, roast beef Dinner-- Roast pork, Rice with hollandaise sauce and cheese, zucchini carrots and corn    Dessert vanilla cake with butter cream frosting and frozen berries

Tasted much better than it looked- saved last piece for Henry

7/31   Breakfast Caramelized french toast, scrambled eggs and bacon   Lunch Garlic pork, sandwiches, salad,Dinner Spaghetti, garlic buns with cheese & basil    Dessert Magic bars

8/1 Breakfast Muffin eggs, French toast, Orange Cranberry Biscuit, Kielbasa Lunch sandwhiches, salad, grilled cheese, beef stew Dinner-Honey glazed Chicken, peas, Mexican tofu, cous cous Dessert M & M cookies-- Cookies actually delivered warm to various parts of camp during early afternoon rain storm.

8/2 scrambled eggs with onions and bell peppers, pancakes, Kielbasa  Lunch sandwhiches, grilled cheese, beef stew Dinner Ham and bean soup, corn and peas, left over chicken , pork in BBQ sauce


8/3 Breakfast- caramelized french toast and egg muffins Lunch sandwhiches, spaghetti,ham and bean soup, beef stew  Dinner Hamburgers, Beans and Spinach Dessert- oatmeal,rasin cookies

Final cooked meal. Almost everyone loved tofu by the end of camp

8/4 Breakfast kilbasa, pancakes Lunch - grilled cheese and ham & bean soup Dinner Tofu with onions and peppers and left overs  dessert- candy

8/5 Breakfast cold cereal and oatmeal lunch left overs Dinner I don't care I'm off the Island




  

The Mars Habitat

Less than a mile from camp is a white building. It is the Mars Habitat. It was completed by the 2000 HMP camp for the Mars Society. It is designed to be a analogue of what a research station world be on Mars. Unfortunately, the Mars Society has not participated in the last several HMP seasons. So the Habitat is currently not being used.

There is much more info on the project available but wikipedia is a good place to start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Analogue_Research_Station_Program

The Menu- part 1

Since I was the cook, it's probably time to share my menu. As you know the food did not arrive all at once and then some of it was not exactly what I had ordered so there was no pre-set menu.

Camp Stoves always busy

Some food comes in with us--mostly zuchinni or so it seemed
7/15 Dinner- Ham & Cheese on baels with bell pepper, onions, cucumbers, apples and tangerines. Dessert- granola bars and candy   (no condiments)

7/16 Breakfast- Instant Oatmeal with apples and tangerines ( no milk)      Lunch- Vegetable Soup with lemon pepper (carrots, onions, zucchini, bell pepper and garbanzo beans)    Dinner- Ham and Onions fried in barbecue sauce, mashed potatoes with a cheese sauce
 Additional food arrives still no bread
7/17 Breakfast- Oatmeal, dry cereal (found some milk), bacon    Lunch - Tuna, crackers, salad, fruit and veggies and left over soup  Dinner- Dahl, rice with basil & sage, Garlic  fried tofu, salad  Dessert-  Eagle Brand Magic Bars (sort of)
 Some more food arrives  (including a couple loaves of bread)

7/18 Breakfast- Pancakes, oatmeal and cereal Lunch- ham and tuna sandwiches, lettuce & veggies,fruit, beef & barley soup (mix) Dinner- Chicken (cubed) in a holandaise sauce with rice, zucchini, corn and onions, lettuce & veggies  Dessert snack food and Eagle Brand Bars


7/19 Breakfast- Cinnamon raisin biscuits, bacon, cereal & oatmeal Lunch- ham, tuna and PB & J sandwhiches, lentil & carrot soup,  lettuce & veggies, fruit Dinner- Hamburgers, beans, soup, corn,  lettuce & veggies Dessert fruit and snack food


7/20 Breakfast- Pancakes, cereal & oatmeal Lunch Veggie noodle soup, Beef Barley soup (leftovers), Sandwiches Tuna, ham, salami & PB & J, lettuce & veggies, fruit,   Dinner-Pineapple baked ham, gnocchi, mixed vegetables, lettuce & veggies Dessert Peanut Butter Fudge and berries


7/21 Breakfast- Cranberry orange biscuits (yes biscuits made with TANG), bacon, cereal & oatmeal Lunch -sandwiches, salad, Clam Chowder made from scratch with bacon, fruit Dinner-Sloppy Joes, salad, seasoned corn Dessert - fudge and snacks  
Final food order arrives mostly meat and bread eggs and milk missing (re-ordered)


7/22 Breakfast pancakes, cereal & oatmeal  Lunch- sandwiches, salad, fruit, Thai chicken and rice soup (mix)  Dinner- Pork Roast, Mash Potatoes with sour cream, onion gravy, spinach  Dessert- peanut butter short bread


7/23- Breakfast- polish sausage, biscuits and gravy, cereal & oatmeal Lunch- sandwhiches, salad, Veggie Tofu soup, fruit Dinner- Chicken breasts with a peach barbeque sauce, tofu and zucchini, orzo and peas Dessert- leftovers

 7/24 Breakfast- pancakes, oatmeal and cereal Lunch Clam Chowder and Thai Chicken soups Dinner - Roast beef, salad, spinach, black bean and cous cous salad  Dessert- chocolate cake

Eggs and milk arrive I'm happy
 

 Candy always a good thing to have around

-

Closing camp

I'm at home now!  It feels good to do things that are "normal".  But part of me already misses camp.

Here are some pictures of the lat few hours I spent on Devon Island. 

One last hike to to the top of one of the ridges near camp. That's Henry a writer for an online NASA magazine.

Kitchen clean- Time to send the cook home.

Mark or Jesse at the top of Fortress Rock.

Seal claws from the top of Fortress Rock. One final gift to me from Devon Island.

Loading 1 of the 2 planes that took us to Resolute Bay.

  

   

The coast if Devon Island  August 5, 2011

View of the airport/military area near Resolute

 Pascal begins planning HMP 2012 while waiting for the plane

Darkness Finally

In Yellowknife the downtown buildings are connected by aerial walkways and underground tunnels.

Downtown Yellowknife

Late night August 6th I experienced nighttime darkness for the first time in over 3 weeks. In Yellowknife the sun finally went down for about 4 hours. Shortly before 11:00 p.m. we noticed that it was dark. Yellowknife is just South of the Arctic circle.

Yellowknife is beautiful. The city surrounds The Great Slave Lake, which I'm told is the 5th largest fresh water lake in North America.

A view of the Great Slave Lake from above the visitors center

There are flowers and trees everywhere! I sure have missed lush vegetation.

View from the restaurant I had Sunday brunch at with Brian Glass (NASA). The rest of our group slept in.

Chalk writing on the sidewalk in front of the Yellowknife public library.

Unsticking a very stuck drill piece

During last year's research season a drill bit (the sharp pointed end) got stuck in rock and ice about 6 feet into the earth. Then the bit separated from the "drill string"  (the very long part that looks like a screw). And as fate would have it the string also got stuck. Hours were spent trying to free the string. The bit was assumed lost forever.

There were two reasons to try and retrieve the piece. 1) It was darn expensive about $5,000 I think (my memory today is suffering from travel fatigue) 2) Using only practices that "limit the impact on the environment" does not include leaving 6 feet of metal in the earth to eventually rust and decompose.

During the long winter the ice seemed to get a stronger grip on the string.

As this year's season came to an end the "science guys" stepped back and let the guys who do mechanics and use brute force take a stab at the string.  Ben and Jesse (with the help of many others at camp)finally, got the string free on August 3rd. NASA will be providing them with a financial reward for their efforts.

What they ended up doing was digging through the ice and rock around the drill.

An attempt on Tuesday to loosen the drill stings be using various vehicles to pull it out

Moon 1 Humvee on Drill Hill

 

  

 Your arctic Explorer/Teacher Julie is currently in Yellowknife, Canada waiting for a plane to got to Edmonton, Canada. I'll be home in the morning.

Views of Girl Scouts of America Centennial Hill

Non-official flag of the Girl Scouts of the High Arctic

About 1/3 of the way across the Haughton Crater lies a lovely hill which has been named to honor the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouting in the United States. This hill was formed in part by ancient thermals.  Here are some views of the hill.

Girl Scouts of America Centennial Hill

There is a small valley between Centennial Hill and the next small hill whose shape reminds one of......

    

A cookie!  So Pascal  and I couldn't resist  in honor of "you know what" I'm pleased  to present  Cookie Hill.

Girl Scout Leader and Arctic Camp Cook, Julie Carter with newly named hills in the background.

Girl Scouts of America Centennial Hill  from the valley floor

 

They Kicked ME OFF the Island

Actually everyone left Devon Island and we were all very happy to leave. Although I have to say I did tear up thinking abut want a wonderful, beautiful, challenging place the camp was for the last month.

I was woken up this morning about 7:15. I broke my alarm clock early yesterday morning and I didn't have to cook breakfast (cold cereal and oatmeal) this morning.

We called Resolute Bay at 8:00 ish and were told it was foggy with high winds. Check in again about 9:00 things still bad. Scheduled call for1:00 resulting in fears that we would only get 1 plane out today I would probably be sleeping on the Island at least 1 more night :( . It wasn't very encouraging but Polar shelve ( the plane company) said  they would get back to us in 45 minutes. (I took nap).  Final camp meeting 2:00: Great news two planes being sent out 15 or so minutes apart leaving Resolute in 30/45 minutes. So we quickly finished the camp close down. took everything to the airport and waited.

I'll post more (with photos) tonight or in the morning.  Just wanted everyone to know I made it safely back to something resembling civilization.


I'm totally exhausted but looking forward to a meal cooked by som6ne else and a bath.

Out of Contact

The weather has improved so it looks like I'll be off the island on Friday.

I will be out of contact from now till Friday night.

Still so much more I want to share.


I'll be blogging  for several more weeks!


Your Arctic Explorer,

Teacher Julie

If all Goes Well

If all goes well I will be home Monday morning.

Here's the schedule:

Thursday- We pack up!
                                
Friday Afternoon- We fly to Resolute

Saturday Afternoon- The NASA team, Sean, Louis and  I fly to Yellowknife

Sunday Evening- Louis, Sean and I fly to Edmonton

Monday Morning- Louis and I fly to San Fransisco

I will loose my intrenet connection sometime Thursday afternoon! I will get it back in Resolute.

The weather is bad so there is some concern about getting out of here on time. If I don't get off the Island in time to make my flight to Yellowknife I will call home (via satellite phone) and my family will update my blog.

Now the bad news- Bob can't come home with me!  We've (Bob and I ) have discussed it in detail and though he's sure he would have a happy, warm, cushy life in Cloverdale, my house is already inhabited by a cat. That and he can't get a passport.


One Last Thought from the SETI Institute, who are camp sponsors
  

One of many stickers on the Mars-1 Humvee

Into the Crater THEY GO!

Getting ready for the traverse

August 2: 9 camp members went on an ATV traverse across the crater. Their goals included collecting samples, getting accurate GSP readings and testing the outer edges of our internet capabilities. They came back after 7 1/2 hours exhausted. My camera went along.

There are no pictures of the communications tests because everyone was too busy skiping, checking e-mail and doing instant messaging to take any photos. For a few minutes we had a WiFi network that covered about 16 miles (from the far side of the crater to the communications tent outside of camp.


enjoy the pictures

Line of ATVs at Rhinoceros Creek. below Drill Hill

Crossing the Haughton River

From the Inside of an Ice Cave

Rain clouds chased them all day--- some light showers

View from the bottom of the crater

Honoring 100 Years of Girl Scouting

The Girl Scout Flag hangs in the kitchen tent at the Haughton Mars Project camp on Devon Island in the High Arctic.
Girl Scout Leader Julie Carter is the camp cook for the 2011 season (July 13 to August 5).

August 1, 2011 -- Dr. Pascal Lee, Chairman of the Mars Institute and director of the HMP Arctic Research Camp, today named a hill inside the Haughton Impact Crater in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the founding of Girl Scouts by Juliette Gordon Lowe.  This hill, now and forever to be known as Girl Scouts of America Centennial Hill, is located near the NASA research site Drill Hill on Inuit (native Canadian) land.

Photos, along with geographic, geological and historical data about Girl Scouts of America Centennial Hill, will be coming in future blogs.

The name will be included on the updated map of Devon Island published before the 2012 research season. As part of the HMP geological study of Devon Island, updates, including names of features, are published by HMP. These names are recognized in publications and by the international scientific community.

Dr. Pascal Lee could not choose his favorite Girl Scout cookie, though he especially loves Samoas and Thin Mints!

Please share this Blog with all Scouts you know!

Meet my friend Bob - He lives under the kitchen/mess tent

Bob and his family (I assume) live under the kitchen tent. He has a cute face and a twitchy nose. Bob is so furry when he runs he looks like he's floating. Bob is happy because we have no dogs in camp. Kira doesn't want me to feed Bob. Luckily she doesn't hang out around the kitchen much. Bob is  shy so I don't have great pictures of him yet.

Bob is an Arctic Lemming

Walking on Mars with John Schutt

July 31

I’ve been invited to take a walk with John, our camp manager. Well, not really a walk. I’ll be walking and taking pictures while John continues his 5 year project to create an accurate topographical map of the areas around camp. He is carrying a long yellow instrument which will provide GPS coordinates and elevation measurements for various points.

John taking measurements of a known  spot

                                                                    

It’s amazing to me that I’m walking and watching John work, because John is a legend in exploration at both ends of the Earth. He has found more pieces of other planets on Earth than any other person. Countless researchers and support staff owe their safety -- and many owe their lives -- to the abilities of this soft-spoken man. He has been at HMP since the beginning.

John tells me this terrain is very Mars-like

Very small plants between the rocks

Over the past two weeks, I have spent many hours with John (mostly doing dishes), and have come to appreciate how he lives for his work and the study of geology.

There are so many things this man has done in his life. Please do some research on him! 

From wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Schutt

John Schutt (born 1948) is an American mountaineer and a member of the yearly Antarctic search for meteorites (ANSMET) program. John has probably recovered more meteorites than any single person in history and has personally recovered more samples of Mars. John has also served as a Field Safety Officer and camp manager for the Haughton-Mars Project with annual field work held on Canada's Devon Island.
John won the Meteoritical Society's Service Award in 2007.^[1] Asteroid 61190 Johnschutt is named in his honor,^[2] as is the Schutt Glacier in Antarctica.

My destination: IRP Ridge. IRP is  a NASA project group.

From the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/25/sports/othersports/25outdoors.htm

This is the land where Schutt, a compact 59-year-old with a ponytail and wire-rim glasses, has won the admiration of hundreds of scientists from around the world. Each November, fresh from a Mars study expedition in the Arctic, he flies to Antarctica to join a team of geologists from the Antarctic Search for Meteorites program, known as Ansmet. His primary mission is to ensure that all of the scientists make it back alive. To date, he is batting a thousand.

“Down there, he’s a sort of a mythical figure,” said Timothy D. Swindle, a University of Arizona professor who will be joining Ansmet for his third trip this year. “He’s known as Johnny Alpine.”

House Rock, as big as the name implies

A recent honor came in the form of an honorary Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University

for his incredible contributions to planetary science, which extend far beyond what he's done for the Antarctic Search for Meteorites program.

 http://www.case.edu/commencement/news/honorary.html.

 

Really in the Arctic

An Arctic weed great for salad

OK it's finally freezing cold, wind and wet!  I'm happy! But this is all messing with the internet so  I may not get yesterday's blog out.

One week left and counting

July 30-

It rained a bit last night and I slept through it. Why is the only "Arctic weather" happening while I'm alseep.
 
This morning we started packing up to go home.  Are plans are to leave on Friday relatively early in the day. Up here you pack when the sun is shining because you never know whats going to happen. The current forecast is for some serious rain Wednesday and Thursday.

So today I became serious about doing the food and paper goods inventory. Yes we still have 800+ rolls of toilet paper, 12,000 ziplock lunch bags, a case of molasses and about 20 pounds of chocolate chips. I also went through the kitchen and re-wrapped the dishes which I just won't use before the end of the season.  It's great to think about going home but there is still SO much to see and do.


I will be leaving on the first flight out with the NASA team. We will go to Resolute then the next day fly to Yellowknife. I will be home (if all goes according to current plans) a week from tomorrow.