ESA Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition Field Report (AMASE 2007) student blog: Farewell

25 August 2007

I’m not feeling much better today, but at least I’m audible and it seems to be going in the right direction. This morning everybody went up to see the field site from yesterday, but due to my throat etc. I restricted myself to picking up my magnets.

Again no dust was visible on the magnets, but with a brush I could see that the magnets seemed to be covered in a very thin film of dust, only the dust was grey, so difficult to see on an aluminium background, and difficult to judge whether the dust was there because it was attracted to the magnets or just because it happened to settle there.

This afternoon we’re moving to Ebbadalen, only a very short trip, as I write I can hear the anchor being retracted, to do a field test with the real rover (CliffBot). Tonight there’s a big fancy dinner on the ship, sort of a farewell dinner.

The dinner was absolutely magnificent and I’m glad we had presents for all members of the crew. We even each got a certificate for having crossed 80 degrees north (from the crew)! We also finished the initiation ritual for the few people who weren’t present the first time around, and we got the explanation for some of the nicknames given on previous expedition.

It’s very sad to be leaving, even though I am sick, but I really hope I’ll get the chance to come back next year – I’m not really sure quite how or why, but I’ll do my best to come up with a great reason 😉 – it has been a great experience!

For now I’m closing up my blog, I will post missing pictures etc when I have returned to Denmark, so if you want to see polar bears etc. keep an eye out during the week. I hope you have enjoyed tagging along on our expedition and my view of it.

For all intents and purposes, Svalbard is definitely worth seeing, and every person I’ve mentioned along the way is worth meeting! This has truly been the experience of a lifetime!