NASA’s C-130 Hercules and its crew have touched down for the first time at McMurdo Station in Antarctica to deliver the Galactic/Extragalactic Terahertz Spectroscopic Observatory (GUSTO) of the agency.
The U.S. research station, operated by the National Science Foundation, hosts NASA’s long-duration balloon campaign in Antarctica, during which the GUSTO mission will embark on a scientific balloon flight starting in December 2023.
The C-130’s journey covers a distance of 26,400 nautical miles (round trip), with its first stop in Fort Cavazos, Texas on October 17 to load the GUSTO observatory and its instrument team. Additional stops for aircraft maintenance and crew rest included the Travis Air Force Base (California), Hickman Air Force Base (Hawaii), Pago Pago (American Samoa), and Christchurch (New Zealand), before finally reaching McMurdo (Antarctica), located 800 miles from the South Pole.
Details of NASA C-130’s First Mission to Antarctica
The Aircraft Office of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia, which manages the C-130, dedicated nearly a year to coordinating the GUSTO mission’s journey.
Key tasks critical to the mission’s success included obtaining international approvals from relevant agencies, configuring cargo with NASA’s Balloon Program Office, logistical support from the National Science Foundation in McMurdo, and specialized training in non-traditional navigation systems in Antarctica. The Aircraft Office devised an extensive plan to safely deliver the intricate scientific cargo.
The C-130’s inaugural mission to Antarctica posed several challenges in long-distance cargo flights. Mission managers and NASA’s Office of International and Interinstitutional Relations (OIIR) acted proactively to coordinate international flight clearances.
“We worked very hard to ensure that we executed the mission with a high level of technical competence and professionalism to maintain NASA’s international reputation,” said John Baycura, a research pilot at Wallops on the GUSTO mission.
The Mission’s Greatest Challenges
The journey spans 90 hours of flight across multiple time zones, putting the crew’s circadian rhythm to the test. For this mission, an additional pilot and flight engineer were deployed to cover breaks and ease the workload. Mandatory crew rest days at strategic locations, in accordance with NASA’s policy, ensure the crew has sufficient time for rest, program adaptation, and safe procedures.
Crossing oceans adds an additional weather risk, compounded by the lack of radar coverage over the open sea. The crew relies on civilian meteorological agencies and the Department of Defense to identify hazardous weather conditions and adjust flight routes, altitudes, and times accordingly.
En route to their destination, the crew communicated with McMurdo Station’s meteorology office to obtain a weather forecast before reaching the safe return point. Based on this data, the pilots had to evaluate whether to continue the flight to McMurdo or return to Christchurch.
