Dear, Journal

I woke up this morning at seven-thirty am. I had to get up early to prepare for the test Mark and I have to do with the wireless router on the LCVP (little boat). Damien and Seth stayed on the Polar Star to make sure we could connect to the satellite so we could transmit video and audio. The other NASA team we picked up from Point Barrow will be on the LCVP too testing the ROV.

We left around two O'clock. We had to wear those orange suites again called Mustangs. It was so scary for me when we were leaving because in order to get into the LCVP we had to climb down a ladder on the side of the boat. I really didn't want to fall in that cold water.

Before we left we tested everything out. It was very stressful because nothing was working very well. When we were out there it was very cold because we were closer to the water and the ice. I felt very uncomfortable working on the LCVP because there were so many people in the little boat. To do the ROV test they had to drive the LCV P on top of a flat ice burg. The first spot they picked wasn't very good. They could not launch the ROV into the water, the ice was always moving, and big peace of ice was blocking our exit. So we found a different location. They found a huge flat ice burg and anchored right next to it. They did their test with the ROV in the water. At the same time Mark and I were testing the wireless router. I was holding antenna and tried to play off the one on the ship.

They were taking some great footage with the ROV. The ROV has a small camera on it and we were looking under the ice burgs. It was amazing. Our wireless wasn't working the way we wanted. We spent two hours out there and when we were going to test our project by circling around the Polar Star to try to connect with the antenna to the one on the ship the captain reported that he doesn't want us driving in these conditions. >From the looks of it the ice was surrounding the Polar Star.

I was so cold I could not feel my fingers or my toes. There was so much ice around the Polar Star it was hard to find a way so we could get back on the ship. The people in the Aloft-conn had to give us direction so we wouldn't get stuck out there. We had to get back on the ship the same way we got off. I wasn't scared as much as I was the first time. I think it was because I was so cold it really didn't matter if I fell in. I just waned to be somewhere where it was warm. It was a very exciting experience for me. If we were to go out like that again I am going to be more prepared. I spent the rest of the night warming up.

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This Quest Project Web page
was last updated on July 29, 1998.