Part seven: Saipan

Older people know Saipan from first hand experiences as it was a major troops transfer base during the World War II and thousands of recruits transited through Saipan. The battles fought on Saipan were bloody and many lives were lost on both the Japanese and American sides. Sadly, with the way history is taught these … Read more

Northern Hemisphere, we are back!

Today is the Independence Day in the U.S. We had a lot of work in the morning, and we had the right people for it. Our ground support crew who flew all the way from Colorado provided the necessary services to obtain the cryogens for the instruments, shipping and other miscellaneous help that we needed … Read more

Tracks in the sand

The beach at the Casuarina Coastal Reserve was very long, and people who left their snorkel-equipped Landrovers in the parking lot only wandered in the nearest quarter mile of it. For the rest of the shoreline, as far as the eye could see, there was nobody. The Pacific chose to be calm, and small waves … Read more

Part six: Darwin

Darwin is located at 12.5ºS, and it shows. In the morning and evening walking around can be “quite lovely actually”, a favorite saying of New Zealanders.  During the day the temperature, even though it is technically winter in the Southern hemisphere, is about 30ºC and humidity is about 85%. We have worked hard the last … Read more

Flight to Darwin

We left Tasmania this morning, having barely seen anything there. I think I know now what a child feels if someone were to give him a candy and as soon as he gets a taste in the mouth, they pull it away. This is how we all felt, leaving Hobart after just one day there. … Read more