Kevin Zagorski 🚀 📡

currently: mission assurance @ vast 🌌
prev: south pole telescope operations 📡
prev: rocket engineer 🚀
always: taco appreciator 🌮
il faut aller voir

Twitter (atm): https://twitter.com/KevZag

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kevzag_at_fediscience.org@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2025-02-09 20:55:18 UTC

After fixing a mailing address snafu I finally received my Antarctic Service medal. It's one of the few DoD medals that civilians are eligible for. Pretty neat.
Qualifying for the medal itself only requires 10 days of service on continent. The "Wintered Over" bar takes a little bit longer to get...
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/975/919/475/534/224/original/3034a358c987062b.jpg

2025-02-06 22:43:36 UTC

Realizing I haven't updated the fediverse on my new gig: I started a few weeks ago in the Flight Safety & Mission Assurance group at Vast. We're vying to build the replacement to the International Space Station. It's really cool!
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/959/357/740/704/985/original/6eae3674a09cab4c.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/959/358/248/059/136/original/d965d049c3cc7092.jpg

2025-01-02 17:49:44 UTC

- reply

Each year's pole marker is different and the winter crew can choose what sort of message they want to send with the design. With so many infrastructure challenges threatening the US Antarctic program we wanted to re-focus on the reason we were there in the first place: Science.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/760/021/829/046/584/original/9618fbdf45c63c0d.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/760/021/951/278/712/original/d0b11a8f6505a002.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/760/022/086/267/516/original/e16edee0457da5c6.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/760/022/187/742/552/original/697c5d3e7e9a6ce5.jpg

2025-01-02 17:49:12 UTC

Every Jan 1st at the South Pole the summer season crew unveils the new geographic pole marker which is designed and fabricated on-site by the previous winterover team. I had the privilege of machining the 2025 marker with my buddy Luke and I can finally show it off.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/760/020/041/472/604/original/8e024db420be4b5d.jpg

2024-11-27 17:58:00 UTC

Today, three hundred and seventy seven days since landing at the South Pole, we boarded an Air National Guard LC-130 and took off for McMurdo. As it banked after takeoff I was able to catch a glimpse of the station and the dark sector, with the South Pole Telescope on the far left. I've logged over 250 miles in the past year walking back and forth along that road in conditions ranging from the brightest sunshine you've ever seen to midwinter blizzards where ten feet of visibility was generous.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/556/211/450/751/641/original/02e97e1fe4aa96bc.jpg

2024-11-17 21:08:26 UTC

365 days at South Pole station, about a week left to go. We spent the day training the new winterover crew and posing for Radio Telescope Men Quarterly.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/500/336/144/266/966/original/e839a9ec44afa8eb.webp

2024-11-05 23:47:32 UTC

How does one vote from Antarctica? Not nearly as easily as in the rest of the U.S.
Fortunately, the Military and Overseas Voters Act of 2009 requires states to deliver blank ballots electronically to overseas citizens which can then be returned via mail, e-mail, or fax.

2024-10-20 00:34:47 UTC

First Basler DC-3T mobilization flight in and out of the South Pole gas station. This bird will be supporting the Italian summer crew at Mario Zucchelli station for the season.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/336/937/387/562/023/original/4f523cc3a49171d0.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/336/938/585/630/809/original/87955f6617f82095.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/336/940/294/708/249/original/fd171fa0e92de58f.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/336/941/483/485/513/original/9c94de2dd6863a80.jpg

2024-10-16 23:37:12 UTC

After a long 7 months without seeing a single new face, flight operations have resumed at the South Pole with the arrivals of a pair of de Havilland Twin Otter aircraft.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/319/726/187/456/994/original/b4b429d3f3ad5c31.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/319/726/473/536/710/original/4b9a4b1d1a1d4a96.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/319/727/109/426/270/original/702c1f3d863075f0.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/319/727/397/728/508/original/808fca361e6bc334.jpg

2024-09-23 09:14:10 UTC

Officially sunrise at South Pole
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/186/101/029/331/984/original/ec636db77176e542.jpg

2024-09-17 09:49:21 UTC

It's not every day you get the chance to plant a giant US flag at the geographic south pole of the world, but it's pretty cool when you do 🇺🇲🦅🎆
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/152/265/336/711/239/original/177424cdbb50d71e.jpg

2024-09-13 04:40:31 UTC

Pretty incredible to be in a place where "golden hour" lasts for a couple weeks...
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/128/400/390/460/908/original/ea3b7fcc81741834.jpg

2024-09-13 01:17:21 UTC

Time to dust off the ops console!
With early season C-17s and C-130s starting to arrive in McMurdo, our South Pole comms team is being asked to support flight ops in case HF radio problems make it difficult to relay information to the aircraft from other stations.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/127/603/409/191/285/original/72b814f103853797.jpg

2024-09-11 04:50:17 UTC

here comes the sun doo doo doo doo
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/117/114/893/957/753/original/c52fa1b922aa014d.mp4

2024-09-06 08:07:59 UTC

station underbelly
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/089/581/749/583/811/original/bee94ce34fb00d97.jpg

2024-09-01 09:29:15 UTC

tfw you can't get to the machine shop bc antarctica is antarctica-ing a little too hard today :(
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/061/589/182/862/491/original/bbb4cf5630ff70f8.jpg

2024-08-21 08:15:42 UTC

station giving real moon base vibes this week
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/999/015/297/899/634/original/a9e8ff1008003e1c.jpg

2024-08-11 03:34:32 UTC

It's a bit exaggerated in these 30 second exposures but even with the naked eye you can clearly see the sun starting to work its way up to the horizon. Sunrise is in a bit over a month.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/941/284/594/785/065/original/a8d0c0225e9b8bbe.jpg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/941/286/370/131/549/original/16b67f22ac6efd62.jpg

2024-08-05 08:37:41 UTC

Two cameras, slightly different wavelengths
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/908/488/113/471/096/original/656ab148c57cbe80.jpg

2022-11-24 00:28:22 UTC

Ever see a rocket engine combustion chamber completely split in half during a hot fire test?
👇 Now you have 👇
Courtesy of the good folks at #NASA Marshall
#3dprint #rockets #metallurgy #space #additivemanufacturing
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/109/395/948/090/159/600/original/1ed0d6a762c09541.jpg

2022-11-07 06:08:12 UTC

hi my name is kevin (he/him)
in my day job i develop hardware for #rockets that launch #satellites to #space from an airplane. sometimes i make that hardware with #lasers but not always.
outside of work i #scuba 🤿 dive, #run 🏃‍♂️ marathons, brew #sake 🍶, and turn wrenches on an old #jeep 🚙 that is dissociating as fast as it can into Fe2O3.
hoping to meet some cool people here. #introduction