On 1 November, 2023 James Brundell and Daniel Mac Manus took off from Christchurch heading for Scott Base, Antarctica. James and Daniel make up Otago Space Physics Expedition 15, which was hoped to involve only a short trip to Scott Base. The main goal was to examine noise levels on our VLF electric field antenna near Scott Base, but also to collect high resolution data, undertake calibrations, and do other maintenance tasks on this antenna and our AARDDVARK antenna at Arrival Heights. This was James’ 14th trip to Antarctica, and Daniel’s 2nd. This departure was their second attempt to go south for this trip – Expedition 15 first left New Zealand on Monday 30 October 2023, got within 1 hour of arriving on the ice, and then “boomeranged” back to Christchurch due to mechanical issues on the USAF C17 they were onboard. They arrived in Antarctica late on the afternoon of 1 November 2023.
As so often happens with Antarctic travel, the original plan was different from what actually happened – we expected them to go South on Monday 30 October and return on 6 November 2023, in the end they got to Scott Base on 1 November and returned on 9 November. There were a number of “firsts” in this trip, including the USAF C17 “boomeranging” back to Christchurch on Monday 30 October , and also James experiencing weather “Condition 1” (which is really nasty weather). Welcome home, Expedition 15!
