From The Field

October 31, 2003

8:19 AM

Andy Hock

Today we leave for San Pedro de Atacama

Audio Diary Today was shopping day. An army marches on its stomach...If this is a true statement, our team is ready to cover long distances. The mountain of food we bought yesterday for the expedition may be barely lower than Licancabur.

I must say that I was a bit disturbed by the apparent ratio of cookies and candy to healthier foods. I thought I was going to LOSE weight on this trip. Oh well, no sense fighting it (grin).

Now, most of us bump into people we know at the local grocery store from time to time. This particular store was anything but local for any of us, so imagine our surprise when four friends from California started shouting to us from the check out lanes! Actually, they are part of another simultaneous NASA expedition to the Atacama dessert. A pleasant surprise for sure, but also a bit surreal.

After checking out, our very privileged groceries got their own private taxi to transport them back to the hotel. Victor rode along to guard the food. Thanks Victor! By the way, has anyone seen the bag of chocolate bars? hmmmmm. There was also an element of comedy in our use of the hotel's luggage dolly to transport fifty some odd bags of food to our rooms to storage.

Shopping for all that food was almost as much work as eating it will be, so we were all pretty tired by evening. A nice relaxing dinner with Ruth, the latest team member to arrive, and we were off to bed. Tomorrow we will be on our way to San Pedro. There is a feeling of expectation for everybody. Crossing the desert...Getting closer to Licancabur once again and finally pay our respect to the 'Lord of the Incas' after having being away for one year. It is like going back to an old friend and we hope it will be as happy to see us that we are to see him.

Continued...

October 30, 2003

10:05 AM

Andy Hock

Time to rest...

Audio Diary After landing in Santiago, a short flight North brought us to Antofogasta. By then it was 9:00 am Tuesday morning, so we checked in to our hotel and all collapsed for a much needed nap; the view of the Pacific Ocean is both familiar to our Californian team members but beautiful in a new way as its waves crash upon Chilean soil.

After waking, refreshed, we met briefly with Guillermo Chong, a professor of geology from the Universidad Catolica del Norte. He and his collegues will be providing valuable scientific expertise to the expedition as well as help with some of the logistical issues.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and running errands, such as Nathalie's purchase of a guitar for entertainment at the isolated refuge under Licancabur. Great idea Nath! ... that is, provided that one of us can actually play the thing. In the evening, we met at Guillermo's apartment for more discussion and to meet a few new faces, including Guillermo's adorable four year old daughter Maria Celia. We wrapped up a long day by having the best seafood soup in the world, or so I'm convinced, at a local restaurant and stumbling back to the hotel to sleep the sleep of the very very very tired.

Continued...

October 29, 2003

9:24 AM

Andy Hock

First days in Chile, the beginning of the Expedition

Audio Diary The expedition begins today! Naturally we would like our first journal entry to be interesting and exciting, but there's really only so much one can say about sitting on airplanes and standing around airports for nearly 24 hours straight.

Nathalie, Edmond, Andy, and Rob met at Los Angeles International Airport at around 10:00 am and departed for Santiago Chile at 12:25. As we took off, the smoke from the fires around Los Angeles was thick in the air, which really drove home the magnitude of the natural forces at work. Even seeing it from a distance like that really makes one feel small and helpless. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that our hearts go out to all those forced to contend with this natural disaster. The sixteen hour flight to Santiago, including a short stop in Lima, Peru, gave us plenty of time to discuss our plans, read, nap, and watch bad movies. There is much to be said for a little mindless entertainment every once in a while! As it turned out, this was Rob's first excursion to the southern hemisphere, so when we crossed the equator, he celebrated in good engineering form by performing a series of experiments in the lavatory basin in an effort to observe the Coriolis effect. Unfortunately, his results were inconclusive due to the motion of the aircraft and the line of angry passengers knocking on the lavatory door.

Continued...

October 28, 2003

1:49 PM

Rick Fitzpatrick

Team Arrives safely!

Audio Diary Despite a state of emergency in southern California due to the fires ravaging the area, our team has successfully arrived in Antafogasta Chile to begin the expedition. All arrived healthy and in good spirits, looking forward to the weeks ahead.

Antofagasta is a large city, with almost 230,000 inhabitants.
It is one of the most populated cities in the country and is the biggest in northern Chile. Antafagasta has a remarkable coastline of over 20 Km long and is located between the Coastal Cordillera and the Pacific Ocean. Interestingly for visitors from the northern hemisphere; the shadows fall in the opposite direction, which can make for an interesting experience walking around.
Since its foundation, mining has been the major industry of this region, starting with copper being produced in large amounts in Chuquicamata, one of the biggest open-cast mines in the world.

Continued...