Dear Program Managers, Colleagues, Friends, and Family,

We recently lost contact with the INMARSAT satellite the Nathaniel B. Palmer uses for email. My understanding is that this is related to the ship's position relative to the "footprint" of the satellite's coverage. Although email may be temporarily regained, perhaps in limited capacity for short messages such as this, it is feasible that we will not return to full email capability for approximately one week.

Emails sent to the ship are supposed to remain queued in the USA until full email service is regained, and are supposed to be sent then without loss.

I will prepare weekly letters and reports as usual, but will not email them until told by RPSC that our regular email service is back in action. Please excuse any delay in hearing from me and others on board. All is well here, and we are making good progress in good weather.

Best Regards,
Jim Swift
Chief Scientist
Nathaniel B. Palmer Cruise NBP-1102 (S04P)