This winter warrior made the gravitational waves discovery possible

Engineer Steffen Richter wintered in the South Pole to keep the BICEP2 telescope running

FROZEN DELIVERY  As the engineer in charge of maintaining the BICEP2 telescope, Steffen Richter made weekly trips to fill the telescope with helium to cool it to nearly absolute zero.

S. Richter

The wind chill is −80° Celsius when Steffen Richter, donning a red parka, hops on a snowmobile and heads to work.