Mawson's our most distant station and each year we need to resupply it, and this year under
Operation Southern Discovery we had a amazing capability provided.
It was a excellent outcome, performed exceptionally well by the crew, to deliver exactly where it needed to be.
In effect we didn't get all the things in we needed to, so this year an aerial delivery of 23 loads
of essential cargo has topped the station up and gets us through to the next resupply.
The aircraft took off out of Perth and refueled with a KC-30a at about four hours south of Perth
and then continued on through the night to deliver an air drop in near total darkness.
Conditions at Mawson drop zone presented their unique challenges. One component was
the night time aspect of the drop which we accounted for in our pre-mission planning.
I really enjoyed working with the Antarctic Division
and just being able to rig something that's live and items that are going to help someone
and bring a smile to someone's face when they receive it on the ground.
And when you package all that up it really is like Christmas arriving in August in Antarctica.