I could hardly sleep last night! Soon I would be seeing something that no one in the whole world had ever seen before. It was millions of years old and had once been so hot it was liquid and flowing out of a volcano. Here we are looking at it for the first time!

Determining exactly when the first core will arrive is kind of like predicting the hour of a birth. First it was Saturday morning, then Saturday evening, then the early hours of Sunday. I decided to go to bed early Saturday so I could get up early. It finally came up just before the sun.

Our Photographer, Bill Crawford always gets the best pictures!

It was exciting to see all the scientists working to preserve the core and record measurements. Sara-Jane Jackett, our Marine Lab Specialist scores the core lining for identification.

It was all basalt (type of intrusive igneous rock) but to the experts, it was much more and they were like children in a candy shop!

The day before we attached the drill bit. It really looks kind of small compared to all the other big machines.

One day I tried shrinking a Styrofoam cup under water in a vacuum chamber. It didn’t shrink very much but I believe I could detect a measurable difference. Here is a picture of the air bubbles being pulled out of the cup.

We also toured the engine room and other working areas of the ship. I’m not sure where I was for this picture. I wonder what would happen if I really turned this wheel!

And what a birthday present for Dustin, Happy Birthday Dustin!

Oh dear, almost out of camera battery again. Now only 19 minutes to charge it until the next core. Today the crew will practice for helicopter landings on the helideck. So much excitement!! Oh here it comes again!!