One of the 8 parts of the
Elevated Station
at South Pole, located along the windward side of the structure,
between
the Galley
and
B2
A3 contains Medical and the public computer lab upstairs, and the
Store, Post Office, the Green House and the Arts & Crafts room
downstairs.
The PA system at
Pole.
The most frequent information heard over the all call is flight
updates (and cancellations), followed by fire alarms. Heard less
often, but nearly as important, are calls for volunteers to help
unload
DNF
cargo like mail or
freshies.
The add-on to
Science,
built a few years later to add another 8 berthing rooms under the
Dome. The rooms were larger than in
Upper Berthing,
but most of them get more noise from around the dome and from activity
in Science. The Annex was vacated at the beginning of the
2006 Winter Season.
Atmospheric Research Observatory, the primary
structure in the
Clean Air Sector.
It replaced the former Clean Air building in 1997, shortly after my
first trip to Pole. The experiments run out of ARO measure the carbon
dioxide content of the air, as well as several other long-term
climatological studies. It's the lab for several NOAA personnel at Pole.
Depending on the year, it stands for Antarctic Support Associates,
the primary civilian contractor to the
NSF
from 1990-2000, or Antarctic Support Activities, a naval detachment
in the 1960s.
A term inherited from the military for a staff meeting where all
personnel are expected to attend. Topics include rumor control,
introduction of new Station Mangement and other announcements
affecting the entire station. They tend to happen about monthly,
more often when things get too exciting.
Named by Scott, it's the area above McMurdo. From there, it is possible
to see Inaccessible Island. In modern times, it's the location of some
sensitive instrumentation and is off limits to most personnel.
One of the telescopes in the
Dark Sector
at Pole. Its detectors are bathed in liquid helium and are sensitive to
sub-milimeter wavelengths of radio waves. The AST/RO building is in
front of
MAPO,
as seen from the main part of the station. It was emptied in the middle
of the 2005/2006 summer and will be demolished soon.
Crary Science and Engineering Center (alias CSEC or Crary Lab), the
centerpoint of science activity on the station. Crary is essentially
three buildings (called "phases") built in descending order
down a hillside, linked via a central corridor (the "spine").
Room 171 was my home for the 1995/1996 and 1996/1997 summer seasons.
One of the 8 parts of the
Elevated Station
at South Pole, located along the back side of the structure,
behind
B2
(the science lab), and between
A3
(the computer lab and medical), and
B4
(the gymnasium). B1 is the so-called "lifepod", with the
emergency power plant on the front of the lower floor, and the emergency
galley at the front of the upper floor, and berthing spaces at the backs
of both floors. Since the station is not normally in a state of emergency,
the backup galley is also used as the game room (pool, ping-pong, and
foosball), and the room next to it is the primary TV/movie lounge, the
current home to the hundreds of VHS and Betamax tapes from the old Dome
Library.
One of the 8 parts of the
Elevated Station
at South Pole, located along the windward side of the structure,
between
A3
(the computer lab and medical), and
B3
(administration and Comms). B2 contains the workspaces for
IceCube,
the Meteorology Department,
and the Science Techs that used to work out of
Skylab
and
Science
upstairs, and the Arts & Crafts room and food storage downstairs.
One of the 8 parts of the
Elevated Station
at South Pole, located along the windward side of the structure,
at the skiway-end of the building, next to
B2
and in front of
B4.
B3 contains adminstration offices and Comms upstairs, and the IT
department and a TV lounge downstairs.
One of the 8 parts of the
Elevated Station
at South Pole, located on one of the back corners of the structure,
at the skiway-end of the building, behind
B3.
B4 contains the Activity Room (Band Room), the workout room, and the
Gym. It was made available for use at the start of the 2006 winter season
and was mostly completed by the end of the winter.
The old Navy Photo Lab, the last of the buildings from Deep Freeze I,
1956-1957, demolished during the 1995-1996 Summer season. I walked
by it for 10 months and had no idea it was the oldest building on
Station.
The McMurdo Playhouse, named for the Summer productions that were
held here. Because this was a large quonset hut with no interior
walls, it was used for a variety of purposes, including storage,
dance parties, and mid-winter airdrop mail distribution. It was
demolished during the 2000-2001 season.
Once the Officers' Club, now the coffee house for officers, enlisted
and civilian alike. This collection of Jamesway tubes is only open
from September to February because of the problems associated with
trying to heat a wood and canvas structure in the Winter. People come
here to write, to talk, and to play games in a quiet, smoke-free place
full of atmosphere.
COSmic RAY observatory, located halfway down the road to
Scott Base, it houses several experiments,
including the cosmic ray detector array which gives the building its
name. There is a conjugate station at Thule, Greenland for
comparison monitoring.
Along with The Erebus, a drinking
establishment. In the Summer, it serves liquor and beer, hosts
weekly dance nights, karaoke nights, and the occasional bingo
game. In the Winter, only coffee drinks are sold. It is at
all times, a non-smoking establishment, and, thus, is always
popular (2003 update: sometime between 1997 and the present, The
Southern Exposure became the smoking bar. I think it happened
about the time that
The Erebus became Gallagher's).
One of the local watering holes, the site of many parties in the Winter.
It was renamed to "Gallagher's" in memorial to Chuck
Gallagher who died on
the Ice
in 1997 before he could be
medevac'ed. As The Erebus, it was the smoking
bar. As Gallagher's, it's the non-smoking bar (it swapped with
The Southern Exposure).
Originally just a food warehouse, B-120 also housed the spare parts I
needed for my job as Computer Technician during my winter-over in 1995.
After B-133 was demolished, some of the telco storage
was moved out of the second deck and the Computer Techs moved in.
The former home of InfoSys, made up of recycled modules from Willy Field,
glued together with enough regular contruction materials to make it look
like a real building. It was located on the road to Scott Base,
overlooking most of McMurdo, the ice shelf, and the Transantarctic
Mountains beyond. It was demolished during the Summer 96/97 season.
The MCC, or, Movement Control Center. All passengers and non-scientific
cargo pass through here on their way in or out. The first floor is
offices on one side, and a cargo bay on the other. The U.S. Post
Office and ASA Mail Room can also be found here.
The Dispensary (alias "Medical"), across the way from the
Galley, is the place people go with problems ranging
from frostbite to broken limbs. Fortunately, it is not a very busy
place in the Winter.
The Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF), most commonly called the
"Heavy Shop" because it is where the loaders,
Deltas and other heavy equipment are repaired.
The 4th of July party is traditionally held here. The Heavy Shop is also
noted for making the best popcorn on Station.
The Galley, the largest building at McMurdo, home to the galley, the
library, the Ship's Store, the Winter photo lab, the Winter video library,
the TV station, the radio station and more. It is the center of lots of
activities in the Winter, less so in the Summer.
Originally just the VXE-6 Supply warehouse, this
building now houses T-315 (the SeaStar project) and serves as a launching
area for S-131 (Terry Deshler's group studying ozone hole formation).
The NSFA Admin building, also home to the Weather
office, the N.O.C. (Network Operations Center), the F.O.C.C. (Field
Operations Communications Center), and MacElex (McMurdo Electronics, the
Navy repair shop). A lot of activities revolve around this building,
summer and winter.
The Chalet, home to NSF and ASA management in the Summer, closed in the
Winter. It derives its name from it's appearance, a ski lodge chalet.
Built in 1970, it is reputed to be the first attempt at a building where
form, rather than function, was given any consideration.
Located next to Cosray along the road to
Scott Base, Little House is used by
atmospheric beakers as a remote site to
monitor telemetry from balloon launches.
Its location affords a better line-of-site view of the Ross Ice Shelf
than CSEC and, thus, occasionally better VHF radio
reception from the sonde.
The act of showing up at the MCC to weigh in for
for a flight. All checked luggage is taken, and all
PAX are weighed with carry-on and
ECW gear. The times change with little notice,
but are rarely convenient.
The informal name given to the "Vertical Tower" that connects
one end of the new South Pole Elevated Station and the pre-existing
network of buried arches that connect to the Dome. Inside, there are
92 steps from the bottom to the top, with an exit at snow level, one
at the first floor of the new Station and the last at the second floor
of the new station. It's clad in unpainted corrugated aluminum, and
from the outside, has the same proportions as a three-story-tall can
of beer, thus the name.
25 miles to the South (as the skua flies), it is the
location of the Unmanned Satellite Earth Ground Station (USES), which is
how McMurdo gets telephone and Internet services. In the Summer, they
usually get there and back via helo; in Winter, the
traverse is around the back side (due to large
crevasse fields) and takes 6 hours in a
Delta. Parties usually day trip in the Summer and
spend one to two weeks in the Winter. There is no running water, one
habitable building and not many places to go if you don't like it out
there.
ECW boots resembling those worn by Mickey Mouse, large,
white and featureless, named for the layer of rabbit fur that's reputed
to be part of the insulation (it's really only wool felt). They are
heavy, but very warm.
The largest American cargo plane ever built. It can carry 4
helos, 8 Greyhound buses or a lot of anything
else. I flew North on a C-5 in October, 1995.
The only ski-equipped cargo plane still flown by the U.S. Military. It
is a small, noisy, four-engine propeller-driven plane from the '60's, but
the only cargo plane that can go to Pole or land at
Willy.
I flew South on a C-130 in January 1995, and flew North on a C-130 a
year later. The Navy
VXE-6 squadron flew C-130s and
LC-130s
from the 1960s through the late 1990s. After they were decommissioned,
the New York Air National Guard took over their role in flight ops.
A medium sized cargo plane used all over the world. It is about as
luxurious as a C-130, but holds more cargo and
gets to Antarctica in half the time on its four jet engines. C-141's
don't have skiis; they fly down to the
Ice Runway between October and December, or
to Pegasus when need be. I flew South on a C-141,
October, 1995, and again in August, 1996.
The large rock outcropping halfway up Hut Point Peninsula, between McMurdo
and Mt. Erebus that defines one endpoint of the
Castle Rock Loop.
towers over the trail, large enough to be seen for miles away.
The trail that starts near Arrival Heights,
goes along the spine of Hut Point Peninsula, past
Castle Rock, down around, and past the Ice
Falls, then back up the road to
Scott Base.
The area upwind from the South Pole station that is as far, atmospherically
speaking, as possible from biological and industrial processes as is
possible on the Earth. I'm told the instruments out at
ARO,
can detect a single person breathing if they are upwind. The certainly
can detect an airplane passing nearby, which is why the planes need to
bank left when departing Pole. A right bank puts them right over the
area.
One of the three major buildings under the Dome at
Pole
(the others are
Science and the
Old Galley.
The first floor of Comms houses Communication equipment. The
second floor is the library and movie room.
The land above and behind T-Site, characterized
by an extinct volcano caldera which gives the area the appearance of
a meteorite impact crater. Several repeaters are located there because
it is visible from McMurdo, Scott Base and
much of the traversed area of the Ross ice shelf.
Cracks and fissures in the ice, frequently snow-covered and not readily
visible. They are one of the most hazardous and everpresent dangers down
here. Because they are typically deep and much wider at the top than at
the bottom, falling unarrested into one is especially unpleasant because
you fall far enough to pick up some speed before your body gets wedged into
the narrow space at the bottom (a process referred to as "corking
in"). Usually, you stop falling when your pelvis gets stuck, or (if
that's already broken) your ribcage. Depending on how far you get, it's
death by hypothermia or asphyxiation. On the other hand, intentionally
entering crevasses while properly roped up is a very popular excursion.
The common name for the ubiquitous cold/flu that strikes new arrivals to
McMurdo. It is most common when a large influx of people brings with
them a large influx of fresh germs. It is rare in the depths of Winter.
The area near the South Pole that houses a variety of light and
radio-wave-sensitive experiements, thus is kept in the "dark"
electromagnetically as much as possible. Only emergency radio
transmissions are allowed, and in the dark of winter, only red flashlights
are permitted. Some of the dark sector experiments include SPASE, AST/RO,
VIPER, and the project I work on,
IceCube.
The SPASE Shack and
MAPO
are in the dark sector.
One of the
science buildings in the
Dark Sector, it was built several years ago
and has finally found a use as the home for
Bicep,
one of the Cosmic Microwave Background experiments at Pole.
A large vehicle with either a flatbed or a passenger compartment. Both
types can hit a whopping 25 m.p.h. on packed snow, but owing to large
balloon tires, are much more comfortable and much faster than tracked
vehicles.
The practice of flying two LC-130's about
an hour apart to Pole at the beginning of the season. It's too cold
to let the planes sit on the ground any useful amount of time, but
by flying people in on the first plane and out on the second, it's
possible to spend a few hours on the ground, rather than a few minutes.
Better hope that second plane doesn't boomerang.
Common term for fresh fruits and vegetables. They come in at Airdrop,
WinFly and periodically throughout MainBody.
Their absence is quickly noticed in the variety of the food.
General Assistant, formerly GFA, General Field
Assistant. GAs shovel snow, haul construction materials, and generally
do general labor sorts of tasks. The real reward is that they get
go lots of interesting places while they do these less than interesting
things.
The most powerful and dangerous storms on this part of Ross Island. They
come out of the South, through Herbie Alley,
bringing winds that can be in excess of 100 knots.
The space between Black Island and White Island through which Minna
Saddle is normally visible. It is a pretty sure sign that a Herbie
is on the way when Minna Saddle is obscured.
Formerly the home of the NSFA commander,
it is now used to house DV's when on station, and
as the location for dinner parties because of its dining room and
full kitchen. Civilian and Military residents of McMurdo, both, can
put down a deposit and book parties (subject to management approval,
a process which can take days due to the number of signatures
required).
The airstrip built annually on sea ice, frozen sea water. The Ice
Runway is about a five minute drive from McMurdo, just a few miles
off of Cape Armitage. It is the closest runway to town, but it only
in operation from October through December. It is where wheeled
aircraft like C-5's and C-141's
land. The reason it is set up and torn down every year is that it
is on ice that may or may not last the summer. In contrast,
Pegasus, is also called the "blue ice"
runway, because it is constructed on the Ross ice shelf itself, made,
not of frozen sea water, but of compacted snow (fresh water). Pegasus,
however, is an hour's drive out of town.
Canvas and wood "tents", Korean War surplus, that are used as
semi-permanent shelter at field camps and the like. The most famous at
McMurdo was the the IX, or 9, Pack, a series of nine jamesways connected
to a common central hallway. It was used for many years as
WinFly
and summer housing for first-year men, but was emptied at the end of the
1994/1995 season and dismantled and stored at the end of the 1995/1996
season. Even into the 2003/2004 season at Pole, there are a lot of
them out at Summer Camp at full occupancy.
LIght Distance and Ranging. There are LIDAR units, large and small
at both McMurdo and at Pole. They are used to detect cloud particle
sizes in stratospheric clouds (18 miles/30 Km up).
One of the many nicknames for
McMurdo.
Others include McMudhole and Dirt Town, both used by residents of South Pole and
Willy Field because of the difference
between gritty volcanic soil here, and the clean, white snow elsewhere.
One of the three seasons of the Antarctic year. At
McMurdo,
it starts around 1-October and goes until the last flight at Station Close,
typically late February or early March. At
Pole,
it's from about 1-November to mid-February.
The Martin APomerantz Observatory;
before the construction of the
10-meter, or South Pole Telescope,
it was the largest building in the
Dark Sector
at Pole. Built in 1993, it's been home to various projects over the
year, including VIPER, DASI, QUaD, and AMANDA. VIPER's last year was
2005, and its part of the building is now walled off and cold, awaiting
demolition. DASI gave up its mount to QUaD a few years back; but as of
late 2007, QUaD is on its last run and will shut down before Thanksgiving,
leaving the old AMANDA strings the only active science project in the
building.
A special flight for medical evacuation - extracting someone before their
tour is up due to illness or injury. There have been several medevac
flights in recent years to both Pole and McMurdo.
Morale Welfare and Recreation, a service of the
Navy that endeavours to find things for us to do that liberate us
from our money. MWR puts on parties, rents musical instruments,
holds bingo night and karaoke night, sells T-shirts, runs the
Ship Store and operates The Erebus,
The Southern Exposure, and
The Coffee House.
a large tracked vehicle, larger than a
spryte
and smaller than a
Delta.
One of the Nodwells at McMurdo is outfitted with fire gear as a crash
cart for the fire department.
Also called "Mother of Pearl" clouds for their milky
opalescent glow. When the right kind of
PSC's are properly backlit, the display is
impressive. These are rare, even in the Antarctic.
One of two groups of Navy personnel who once worked down here
(VXE-6 being the other), they were the only military
who Winter here prior to their disestablishment in 1998.. Once numbering
over 100, by 1996, their ranks had thinned to
a wintertime complement of a couple dozen. The last areas directly under
their control before disestablishment were the MET (weather) Office,
the TV and radio stations, and
T-Site. Rumor has it that the acronym actually
stood for, "No Sex For Awhile".
Old Antarctic Explorer, someone who's been around
for a while, several summers, or at least a Winter. Wintering at Pole
definitely confers OAE status. The other way to tell if someone is an
OAE is if they started coming to the Ice before you did.
Short for "Observation Hill", the 800' cone of volcanic rock and gravel
located between Scott Base and McMurdo. It is
one of the few destinations to which solitary travel is permissible. At
the summit, clearly visible from town, is a large cross, commemorating
the death of Sir Robert Falcon Scott and his party.
Optical Module, a sensor for
AMANDA,
the neutrino detector buried under the Ice at
Pole. There are more than 600 OMs in 19 strings
in AMANDA. It successor, Ice Cube, will have 5000 OMs in 99 strings
(including AMANDA's original 19).
The "blue ice" runway (so-called to distinguish it from the
sea ice Ice Runway). Of the three airstrips
serving McMurdo and Scott Base, it is by
far the furthest away and least used. Pegasus is used in January
and February to accomodate wheeled aircraft
(C-141's and C-130's with
their skis up), after the summer heat has made the airstrip at the
Ice Runway unsafe to use. Pegasus was also used for
WinFly '96 for three C-141 flights.
Photo Multiplier Tube, the active part of an
OM.
It resembles a large light bulb or small picture tube, and works
like a light bulb in reverse - light entering its face produces
an electrical impulse that can be detected and recorded. PMTs are
used by several experiments at the pole, AMANDA, SPASE, Ice Cube
and Ice Top. They are how the detectors "see" the faint
light produced when a neutrino interacts with a water molecule.
Polar Stratospheric Clouds, high altitude (30km)
clouds which only form in extremely cold air, such as that found over
Antarctica at the end of the Winter. They are being studied as the most
likely site for ozone destruction processes.
Point of Safe Return, the furthest a plane can
go and still return to its origin. The PSR for an
LC-130 is about halfway between McMurdo and
Christchurch. The PSR for both C-141's and
C-5's is overhead. Thus, it is possible to get
all the way here and still have to fly the entire way back, as happened
to me at WinFly '96.
The old name for the "McMurdo Ground Station", a large
dome just downhill from Arrival Heights,
built in the 1994-1995 season to collect data from a satellite that
has not been launched as of the end of the 1995-1996 season.
Short for "retrograde", to return waste or no longer needed
materials to the States from The Ice. By
extension, retro can also refer to the waste itself.
The Info Sys pickup truck, so named because it rolls over (a previous
owner failed to chock the wheels and it took off down a hill, not
entirely on its wheels).
The group of qualified and trained volunteers who come and find your
ass when you turn up missing. The SAR Team gets to go interesting
places (usually in the worst weather) and work their buns off.
One of the three major buildings under the Dome at
Pole
(the others are
Comms and the
Old Galley.
The first floor of Science once housed the Meteorology Office (Met),
Science Support, the Aurora Tech, the public computer lab, and part
of the AMANDA project. The second floor was
Upper Berthing.
Met relocated to
B2
during the 2005 winter season, AMANDA (now part of
IceCube), the Aurora Tech, and Science Support moved up to B2 during
the 2005/2006 summer season, and I was the last Upper Berthing
resident at the start of the 2006 winter season.
The home of our neighbors from New Zealand, 10 this Winter and
a lot more than that in the Summer. It is noted for the spacious and
friendly bar, as well as the site of some of the best parties anywhere
around. Unlike McMurdo, Scott Base is nearly all interconnected;
which is a good thing, considering how harsh their weather gets. It's
about a mile away, but on the other side of Hut Point Peninsula
right up against the Ross Ice Shelf, facing Black Island (and
Herbie Alley).
Started in 1901 and completed in 1904, Scott's Discovery Hut is named
for his ship, "the Discovery". It was his base of operations
until his death in 1913. Since the 1950's, however, it has been
designated an historical landmark and is no longer used as a base
camp for Antarctic expeditions. It still contains many of the items
and food containers used by Scott and his men. There are frequent
tours of it in the Summer season.
The charming name given to the heated shed that was once one
of the most accessible out-of-town jaunts before it blew down in a
winter storm in
2004
(it was "Silver" because of its Airstream-trailer-like
aluminum sheathing). It sat on the road between
the ice falls and Willy Field,
far from the lights of town and a prime place for star gazing and
aurora hunting. It was close enough to ski to, but most people
took vehicles out and back.
A variety of Antarctic gull that is noted for its rapaciousness
and its wide variety of acceptible foodstuffs. They are noisy,
dirty and just plain nasty birds. They are to standard seagulls
what a New York pigeon is to a dove. More disgusting than the
swallows of Capistrano (and less disgusting than the Buzzards of
Hinckley, Ohio) they are our first heralds of Austral Spring, but
as the saying goes, "One skua does not a summer make."
The four-story-tall orange tower that sits next to the dome and once
housed a variety of aeronomy experiments. The very top housed the
Aurora Lab; below that, the Skylab Lounge, which doubled as a
practice room for any on-station musicians; below that, COSRAY, a
cosmic ray observatory; and on the bottom floor, CUSP. Skylab was
vacated at the start of the 2005/2006 summer season. The science
equipment was relocated to
B2
in the
Elevated Station;
the band equipment was relocated to the "Activity Room" in
B4.
Also called "Happy Camper School", it is wilderness
survival training where students learn how to set up camp out
on the open expanse of the Ross Ice Shelf, including making
a snow wall to block wind, and erecting igloos and snow mounds
for shelter. It is required for all winter-over personnel and,
depending on the weather, lots of fun, or one of Dante's nine
Hells.
The name for the two rainbows that appear on either side of the sun,
approximately 23° away, caused by the refraction of light through
suspended ice crystals. Frequently seen with displays of halos and
other perihelical effects. They are occasionally visible in temperate
latitudes, but more common in polar regions.
Temporary Ice Cube Laboratory, where the
Ice Cube
computers live until the
ICL (Ice Cube Laboratory, formerly the El Dorm)
is completed. The TICL, once known as the TCH (Temporary Counting
House), was intended to house the equipment for 4 strings for one
year, but now will have to service up to 13 strings, and stay operational
for an additional year. Once the ICL is up, the TICL will be emptied
and closed down.
Short for "Transmitter Site". Once staffed year-round by
members of
NSFA
who operated and repaired the transmitters that once were the primary
method of communcation with the outside world. After the new USES
station went completely operational,
Black Island, T-Site was demoted to
an antenna farm and backup communications in times of outages at B.I.
Common description for the condition that happens to most
winter-overs
to one degree or another. Toastiness includes short attention span,
poor memory, irritability, even the classic "thousand-yard-stare in a
ten yard room". These symptoms normally pass quickly once the
winter-over starts thawing out in Christchurch.
the name for any journey on the ice to any place more distant than
Willy Field. Notable traverses include the
frequent trips to Black Island and the
Springtime trips to the ice caves of the Erebus Ice Tongue.
The mountain range that cuts across the middle of the continent,
from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. The portion visible from
McMurdo is also called the Royal Society Range, named for the
Royal Society which put up substantial sums of money
for exploration early in the century.
Any change from one surface to another, such as from permanent to
annual ice or from dirt to any kind of ice. The two most
traversed transitions are on the road to
Willy Field and onto the sea ice below
Crary Lab on way to the
Ice Runway.
A 55 gal. drum used for the collection of urine in places that
lack real plumbing. U-Barrels are painted canary yellow, lest
someone mistake the contents for something useful, like fuel
or drinking water. The actual accomodations for filling one
range from a bathroom with a tin-lined wooden box complete
with standard toilet seat (B-133) to
a pile of rocks to stand on and a funnel weighted down with
a rock so it doesn't blow away (
Lake Hoare).
All the Navy pilots are assigned to this squadron. Through the
1995-1996 season, they flew and maintained UH-1H "Hueys"
and LC-130 "Hercs". They flew
their last helo in February, 1996, and their
last LC-130 a couple of seasons later. Petroleum
Helicopters, Inc (PHI) took over the helo flying; the New York
Air National Guard (NYANG) now flies the LC-130s.
Short for Williams Field, the airstrip and building complex located
on the permanent ice, about 10 miles from Mactown.
It is the first sight that many see of this place. Given the bleak
nature of the ice shelf, some do not find it to be a comforting sight.
It is named for SeeBee Richard T. Williams who drowned when his tractor
fell through the sea ice, in 1953.
Either the week in August when Willy opens
up to admit the first planes after Winter, or the period of time
between those flights and MainBody, in October. The station grows
about 75% in one week, leading to some additional stress as
winter-overs and WinFly folks try to work together at different paces
with somewhat different world-views. Winter-overs tend to think that
WinFly people are loud, pushy and belittling, while folks that arrive
at WinFly tend to see the winter-overs as tired, irrascible and even
slightly paranoid. Winter-overs don't always get the slack they
deserve.
A military synonym for UTC or GMT. Most scientific data is logged on
computers set to Zulu time. For regular "wall time" McMurdo
follows
Chch,
which is GMT+12 hours in the winter, GMT+13 in the summer (even though
the sun never sets in the summer and there is no night to save the
daylight from).
Pole follows McMurdo,
to eliminate issues with jet lag or calculating arrival times of flights.
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Last modified:
8 October 2007