1-18-06 Discovery Hut
We were able to take a guided tour of the Discovery Expedition
Hut which sits out on Hut Pt. next to McMurdo Station. In order to
keep the relics inside preserved, access to the hut is limited to
small groups that mustcheck out a key to get in. The hut was
erected in 1902 by Scott's first expedition to Antarctica, and was
used by four subsequent expeditions, in some cases under very dire
circumstances.
We started out by taking our class picture outside the hut. I'm all the way over on the right side, sporting a freshly shaven face. Next to me is Donal Manahan, the grand master of the class. Hiding in the back row are Mark Denny, my PhD advisor, and George Somero, also from the Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, CA. For those of you keeping track, Jason Podrabsky is all the way over on the left in the front row. Thereare 21 students in the group and eleven instructors and TA's.
The hut has a limit of eight people at a time, and even then it's a little crowded inside. I can't imagine the expeditions which sometimes had up to fourteen people inside this hut along with supplies to last them for months on end.
The inside of the hut is arranged very much as it was left by the last expedition group which left in 1917.
On the floor are a number of fuel cans used to power the cooking stoves.The English tended to have bad luck with their fuel can seals, so they came back to find half-empty or completely empty fuel cans on a number of occasions.
This box bears the stamped insignia of one of Scott's expeditions, the second 1910-1913 Terra Nova Expedition.
The hut also includes things like the mummified remains of a few seal carcasses, which the men had to eat on occasion when supplies ran low. There are a pair of dried out pigs hanging in one of the back rooms as well.
The hut was notorious for being extremely cold inside, due in part to its original design as a hut for use in the Australian outback. Its design sheds heat from inside to outside extremely quickly, and doesn't allow the sun to heat it from the outside very effectively.
We started out by taking our class picture outside the hut. I'm all the way over on the right side, sporting a freshly shaven face. Next to me is Donal Manahan, the grand master of the class. Hiding in the back row are Mark Denny, my PhD advisor, and George Somero, also from the Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, CA. For those of you keeping track, Jason Podrabsky is all the way over on the left in the front row. Thereare 21 students in the group and eleven instructors and TA's.
The hut has a limit of eight people at a time, and even then it's a little crowded inside. I can't imagine the expeditions which sometimes had up to fourteen people inside this hut along with supplies to last them for months on end.
The inside of the hut is arranged very much as it was left by the last expedition group which left in 1917.
On the floor are a number of fuel cans used to power the cooking stoves.The English tended to have bad luck with their fuel can seals, so they came back to find half-empty or completely empty fuel cans on a number of occasions.
This box bears the stamped insignia of one of Scott's expeditions, the second 1910-1913 Terra Nova Expedition.
The hut also includes things like the mummified remains of a few seal carcasses, which the men had to eat on occasion when supplies ran low. There are a pair of dried out pigs hanging in one of the back rooms as well.
The hut was notorious for being extremely cold inside, due in part to its original design as a hut for use in the Australian outback. Its design sheds heat from inside to outside extremely quickly, and doesn't allow the sun to heat it from the outside very effectively.
posted by Luke Miller at 12:05 AM 
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