De-orbit and Re-entry from Antarctica

DE-ORBIT

My contract is complete.  I am now somewhere high above South America, heading north.  We said goodbye to the crew remaining behind – most of them having contracts that go until mid March.  After 80 days with them, I will miss them dearly.  One of the best parts of this cruise was the people.  The science-support team (my team), the scientists, the ships deck/engine crew and the ship’s Filipino able-bodied seamen (ABs).  It was a pleasant surprise how well we all got along, and how I enjoyed each group.  It was a good reminder: the relationships with the people around me make all the difference. 

Of note was one moment on the back deck. I had gone out to check on some sensors while underway. There was a little water on the deck but that’s pretty routine. When done, I went to the rail to see if I could video any good waves. Nothing of note was happening so I started heading back inside. As I did, however, I heard a noise, looked to the rail and saw “green water” head high washing over the rail towards me. It was one of those moments where I had no idea what was going to happen next. It was a feeling I hadn’t really had since being in the Christchurch earthquake. I dropped my phone, and quickly stepped behind the crane post more than six feet in diameter to shield me from the wave. I’ve had more time to contemplate avalanches in the backcountry, and it felt more like I was trying to save myself from an avalanche than a wave. I was protected behind the post, though certainly got wet. Miraculously, my phone did not get washed overboard and after a few days of drying out, it still works! Mother Nature just had to let me not get too complacent – especially in Antarctic waters! Enjoy the video!

RE-ENTRY

Later: Well, that is that.  I am home.  In about 28 hours I transitioned from the ship to home.  It is miraculous how fast and relatively easy it is to fly so far around the Earth.  I am now home, feeling like I’ve just left the space station.  Flying in space takes months of preparation and anticipation leading up to the launch (so I’ve read).  But when re-entry comes, it is fast and abrupt. 

I have left my team, my mission. Some are still on the ship to continue the mission, some have come home, just like me.  The team will never be reunited again.  I don’t know when I will see any of them again, though I now have some dear new friends, that I must see again. 

The rules have quickly changed as well.  Most strangely, no longer is the gravity vector continuously.  Walking into the exercise room always felt like walking into a science fiction room of variable gravity. Varying by the second, it could be very easy to lift some weights and then very challenging.  Vectors have both amplitude and direction and this variable gravity room also saw the direction of gravity change as well.  Often it would just swing back and forth with the steady motion of the ship.  But in the Drake Passage, it was unpredictable and could go in any direction.  After all that movement, it feels very strange to stand in the shower and see the imagined gravity vector pointing straight down, at a fixed length, and at a firmly fixed angle.  Crazy.  

The rules of gravity have changed but so have many other things.  No longer do I need to hold my hands over my ears every time I flush the vacuum system toilet (like they have on airplanes) which I found too loud for my already burdened ears.  The endless hum of computer fans and air circulation has given way to quiet.  How amazing it felt to stand outside after a slow run (not on a treadmill for the first time in 80 days!) and to listen to the quiet.  It is intoxicating. 

No longer is the food, laundry, housing provided.  I have to figure those out for myself, but with it comes the freedom of free time.  I don’t have to wake up tonight for the start of my midnight to noon shift.  I can sleep in, do as I choose, for better or worse. And I can run. I can run and go somewhere, which also feels amazing, even if I’m coming back to where I started, but I’m still going somewhere in the process – so much to look at! 

There is also internet data!  The data we have at our fingertips these days is incredible.  We had it pretty good on the ship, but it was slower and spotty at times.  I’ve come to see a modern internet connection as some level of the probe stuck into the brains of people outside of the Matrix.  Though I can’t learn to fly a helicopter in a matter of seconds like Trinity, I am connected and have access to an unending amount of information.  Used properly, plugging in allows for a steady increase in knowledge.  It’s incredible to think we grew up without the internet.  The time it takes from an idea to building something has been greatly shortened.  Reconnecting to a fast connection to learn can be intoxicating.  Knowledge is power, they say.

The transition wasn’t the easiest on my body. Last week, I was in freezing weather but almost 24 hours of sunlight.  Then, in Chile, I was in near 24 hours of sunlight but with summer-time temperatures.  Now back in Massachusetts, I find myself in more darkness than light, with temperatures colder than much of the Antarctic peninsula.  I’ve transitioned off the night shift but my body still doesn’t know what is what and now I’ve added a small two hour time change onto the confusion.  A red-eye flight doesn’t help either. 

I will no longer be in a clockwork world.  On the ship, the routine events are predictable.  I’d see the night crew at a certain time.  The day crew would appear at their usual time.  They’d all be doing their usual activities.  In the morning, I’d have my favorite greeting with Fernando as he swept the floors: “Mr. Ben!”, “Mr. Fernando!” said with big smiles.  I looked forward to it every day.  I know who would be where generally all the time.  The routine is gone, choice and a bit more randomness takes its place.  More decisions will have to be made.  More responsibility for the overall things that need to happen.  On the ship it was take care of the electronic equipment.  Back at home, there’s a little more going on that needs attending to.  Everything that was put off while away, now needs to be attended to. 

Back from Antarctica, back from the ship.  It’ll take some time to process it all.  It almost feels like it was just a three month memory that someone implanted in my brain.  What proof do I have that it really happened?  Maybe I’m plugged in to the Matrix!  Real or not (real!), I’m always slightly changed by these explorations.  I’m continually reminded that it’s the relationships with people who make or break an experience.  From the ship’s crew to the scientists, to the other support workers, I had a wonderful time with all the different groups on the ship.  Such a pleasure to see people of different backgrounds from different cultures work so well together.  International cooperation in the name of science!

I’m also reminded of how I like to use my time.  I felt best when I was part of the mission, when I had something to contribute, or when I was busy working on a task.  As I grow older, how I spend my time becomes more and more important.  I don’t have an endless supply and seconds passed will never be lived again.  From Shawshank Redemption: Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’. Life is too short. 

And one other thing pondered while hurtling through the sky at probably close to 500 mph.  We’re all on this ride together.  On the Earth and in this moment.  And NO ONE knows what’s going to happen!  Have we all forgotten this?  We don’t even really know what’s going to happen tomorrow!  It’s all uncertain, which we are coming to understand from Covid, but it’s really all uncertain.  We don’t know who will be around in some future time.  We can guess, but we don’t really know. 

Well, back on the ground now.  Time to get myself sorted for what is coming next.  A bunch of balls in the air, they’ll land somewhere!  Thanks for following along, happy holidays to you all!

Some photo highlights:

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