Introduction

    Space Chronicles on Ice
    by Don Pettit

    JSC2002-E-43073 : Don Pettit Image above: Astronaut Donald R. Pettit. Image credit: NASA

    Astronaut Don Pettit, participating in an expedition to Antarctica to search for meteorites, shares his thoughts in a journal entitled "Space Chronicles on Ice." Join Pettit on his mission as he compares and contrasts exploration on Earth with exploration of space.

    + View Don Pettit's Biography

Mission Journals

  • The Scott Tent

    12.20.06 - "We are living in tents patterned after the tent that Robert Scott designed for his fated 1910-13 South Pole expedition."

  • The 22-Degree Halo

    12.19.06 - "A few days ago, consumed by the katabatic wind, we found ourselves inside of a suspended collection of ice crystals."

  • Blue Ice

    12.17.06 - "Feasting one's eyes on the robin egg hue of blue ice presents a natural beauty that rivals a rainbow."

  • Concentration by Wind

    12.16.06 - "I scoffed at such ideas of flying rocks but now I am a true believer."

  • Concentrated Meteorites

    12.12.06 - "For some reason, meteorites are found lying on the top of Antarctic ice fields in amazing numbers, much more so than what one would find in other areas."

  • First Meteorite

    12.11.06 - "Today we searched blue ice glaciers for meteorites."

  • The Flag of Exploration

    12.10.06 - "Like a Flat Stanley, this small and unimposing flag has traveled all around the world on various explorations."

  • Moving Camp

    12.10.06 - "We broke camp this morning, loaded up our Nansen sledges, and formed a snow mobile convoy in the middle of Antarctica. ..."

  • C-130 Cargo plane at McMurdo's William Field

    Deployment to the Ice Continued

    12.09.06 - "We deployed to the Grosvenor Mountain region in the Trans-Antarctic Mountains."

  • Packed food

    Deployment to the Ice

    12.07.06 - "Tomorrow, December 8th, we deploy to the ice fields in the Grosvenor Mountains via a C-130 military cargo plane. "

  • Training camp near McMurdo Station

    McMurdo Station

    12.05.06 - "McMurdo is part frontier town and part science lab."

  • Southern Cross

    Confusion in the Southern Hemisphere

    11.29.06 - "People who grew up in the northern hemisphere oftentimes find it a bit confusing when they first travel southward to New Zealand."

  • Thanksgiving, Late but not Late

    Thanksgiving, Late but not Late

    11.25.06 - "We have found our way to Christchurch, New Zealand where we are making our preparations for deployment to the ice."

  • New Zealand

    Leaving for New Zealand

    11.13.06 - "We leave for New Zealand this morning, flying from Houston, Texas to Christchurch via Dallas, Los Angeles, and Auckland."

Related NASA Sites

  • Saturday Morning Science with Expedition 6 NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit.

    Saturday Morning Space Station Science  →

    Expedition Six NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit used some of his time while living aboard the International Space Station to shed the light of science on a variety of subjects.