Today Rico is outside, exploring the surroundings of Neumayer Station.
Rico doesn’t need this, but people always dress warmly in the locker room before going outside.
In winter, the sky above the station glows in the most amazing colours. To the south, Rico runs along the hand line….
… until after almost 1.5 kilometres he arrives at “Spuso” (Spurenstoff-Observatorium), the Air Chemistry Observatory at Neumayer . The Spuso is the realm of the air chemist.
Inside there are many pumps to maintain and filters to change.
CO2 is fixed with sodium hydroxide. While working with it, Rico has to wear safety glasses.
From the Spuso, Rico walks 200 metres further west. There is the entrance to the “MagObs”, the magnetics observatory, where the geophysicists work. From the outside, the MagObs looks very small, …
… but in the shaft it goes down 15 metres. Rico ropes himself up for the descent.
At the bottom of the MagObs, Rico helps with the gyro. North is determined exactly with a gyrocompass, because the ice shelf with the MagObs in it is always moving.
On the way back from Spuso and MagObs, Rico passes EDEN ISS, the greenhouse. This is where the botanist works.
Passing the station, Rico goes to the radome. Here he turns the satellite dish, pointing exactly at the satellite providing the Internet for the station.
Rico takes a trip to SPOT, the penguin observatory. Here, cameras are used to observe the penguins throughout the winter.
On the sea ice Rico visits his relatives
At night Rico is very lucky. Strong auroras can be seen. Rico goes out and marvels at the lights.