Greetings from Внуkово! The first wave of Polaris 2014 (Aaron, Craig, Erika, Heather, Homero, Mike, Sam, and Seth)  is indeed East Bound and Down (yes, this is a Smokey and the Bandit reference). We’ve had a pretty great trip so far. Delta now has in-seat usb and power outlets on international flights, which made redeye number one pretty nice. And we bumped into Mathias and Min, two colleagues from Germany who also work in Cherskii. They said the weather is nice and the internet is working, fingers crossed! Now we’re at the gate, waiting for our second redeye, to Yakutsk. Despite the lack of sleep, we’ve also managed a few good science conversations. More soon.

The gang, looking chipper in JFK.