Glider Away!!

On Friday night (Saturday afternoon in the Ross Sea) our glider ru26 was deployed. It was a great weather day, temperatures around 37 degrees and calm winds. Our crew Chip Haldeman and Clayton Jones headed out to the ice along with a support crew that included an ice expert and helicopter pilot.

The helicopter took the team and all the equipment we would need to the north east side of Ross Island.

This location was safe for the deployment and gave us access to the larger area of open water called the Ross Sea Polynya.

After a few tests to check the glider compass and ocean currents, the glider was moved to the ice edge for deployment.

At 10:25 pm (4:25pm Saturday) the glider slipped into the chilly water on its way to a depth of 120m. This first dive starts the glider’s two month mission in the Ross Sea.