ITP 92 Deployment
The final Ice Ice-Based Observatory (IBO) deployed during NABOS 2015 included ITP 92 with MAVS current probe. After several days of searching for good ice, the ice pilot Andy Masanov finally thinks that he’s spotted a good floe. After the ship is parked, he, Jim Dunn and Frank Bahr take a pallet plane ride to to the ice floe and drill several 2'' pilot holes indicating 1 m thick ice. Meanwhile a sharp blast from the ship’s horn was used to scare off a Polar bear that had come within 200 yards of the ship (which was good since there are no bear guns on the Tryoshnikov).
The setup and hole drilling gets underway quickly and efficiently. After drilling four large holes, separate teams start on the SIMB and ITP installations which proceed smoothly. The O-buoy was lifted directly from the ship into its 24'' hole. Then, finally the AOFB was installed after a very long day on the ice.