by Matthew Shupe, CIRES/NOAA scientist and co-coordinator of MOSAiC

Wow, it has been intense out. The skies cleared, leaving us bathed in full sun all day.  Full bright sun, nearly twice as bright as a typical sunny day back home because of the high albedo surface. Photons coming in from all directions. It’s time to make sure you’ve got your sunscreen and sunglasses that can black out all stray light. These are the days that cheer everyone up, and put smiles on faces. I was full speed today, although a bit frustrated in the morning (in spite of the fantastic sun) because few other people were awake. The party last night, and it being Sunday, kept people in bed. I tried to get as much done as possible, coordinating with those that were awake and getting plans organized for lifting equipment down to the ice and getting it out to our sites. Cargo shuffling always seems to be a bottleneck. The ship’s crew is great, and they are super helpful. But they can only operate one crane at a time. And these are huge cranes that are often lifting delicate equipment, so every lift must be done with care. I have found that serving as the cargo coordinator helps keep things flowing. This means coordinating with the various science groups to know what needs to be moved and where it is, etc, etc. Then developing a plan for how it gets done and working with the boson to manifest the plan. I think (hope) the deck crew likes me. They are always going about their work with smiles and making a little joke or two.