And then there were 41

Last of summer crew boarding the final flight out

Yesterday was the last flight carrying passengers out of South Pole Station. The next flight out wont be until October or November (depending on the weather). LC-130s stop flying to the South Pole during the winter because their hydraulics are only rated to -50F. While Twin Otters can make the flight, it is highly risky and only done in the case of an extreme medical emergency. 

So for the next 8.5 to 9 months, it is just the 41 people in the winter crew at the station. The last flight in unloaded some "freshies" (apples and other fruit) for us before flying out. 

Per South Pole tradition, we watched three versions of The Thing on the projector in the gym.

Who are the 41 people who stay for the winter? Only a small portion (~7) work on the science instruments, the rest are for station support and maintenance. We have three galley workers, a doctor and a nurse, and several each of satellite engineers, IT, utility technicians, materials workers, mechanics, a machinist, a plumber, and various other positions. 

View From My Window

Finally, the entire reason why I switched rooms is justified!

South Pole Station Tour

South pole station is situated on an ice cap ~ 9,350 ft thick, at an elevation of 9,301 ft. Stations here must be engineered for the changing environment of the ice cap, and unless properly engineered, buildings have a finite lifetime. Although there is almost no precipitation, snow drifts will build up around structures, eventually burying them or causing structural collapse damage. The other main issue is the shifting nature of the ice cap, which can cause differential shifts/loads in large structures, causing interfaces between different sections of the structure can become uneven over time. In general, it is better to build elevated stations or underground stations. South Pole Station has a bit of both (shown above), with most living, admin, science, and rec spaces in the elevated station. Underneath, is a sequence of tunnels and arches that lead to maintenance structures such as water supply, the power planet, and storage facilities. 

The ice tunnels shown above lead to the rodwells, which is where the station obtains its water. Rodwells pump hot water into an ice hole to start a well, which provides a feedback of liquid water. The rodwells expand to be over 500 feet deep and can eventually provide over 2.9 million gallons of water. Each rod well lasts about a decade, and as it pulls water from deeper depths, it is melting ice/snow formed over a thousand years ago before being packed down into the ice cap. The ice tunnels extend for about 1500 feet to the rod wells and are about 40 feet below the surface, deep enough that the walls of packed ice are has hard as stone. Some bowing in the roof is a noticeable result of the changing stresses of the ice. The most unique feature of the ice tunnels are the  shrines sparsely populate various pockets, forming dedications to groups of workers and winters past. Currently we are pulling water out of the third rodwell, and dumping waste into the empty second rodwell. 

Rodwell diagram - rod start at surface expands into liquid water well

There are three arches, one for the power plant, warehouse, and fuel storage. The power plant runs completely on fuel, which is transported to the station via LC-130s or via the Traverse, a convoy which drives fuel from McMurdo to the South Pole. Because of the government shutdown earlier in the season, only two traverses were made this year (instead of three), and LC-130s have been rushing to bring enough fuel in for the winter. Next year they hope to make four traverses, which are about half as expensive as flying fuel in. We have a capacity to cary 450,000 gallons of fuel, and currently have over 350,000, which is enough for the winter.

Fire hazard

The logistics warehouse stores food and other supplies. What's shown in the photo above is mostly food stock. The station has enough food for five years.

Also contains the lost ark of the covenant

My small but cozy room in one of the wings of the the elevated station. Everyone on station has single rooms. 

Super Bowl Tuesday

Yesterday (Tuesday of this week) was the South Pole's Super Bowl Party. Because the satellites don't have the bandwidth to stream the Super Bowl, they record it from the Air Force Network broadcast at McMurdo and send it down with the next plane. The football showing was accompanied by a treat from the chefs of mozzarella sticks, pizza, wings, and other football munchies. Unfortunately, Denver's performance was abysmal.

Besides that, the station is still pretty busy getting ready for the transition to winter. Almost all of the winter-overs have now arrived. Because of the government shut down earlier in the year, the station has been behind on flights, but the pace of incoming flights of supplies (most importantly fuel) has been picking up. Some flights are also filled with 'day trippers', high up NSF or military personnel who fly down for a day for a quick tour of the station and some photos, and then return to McMurdo.

90 Degrees South

Here is a shot of the pole, just in case there were any doubters. The marker has to be moved ~33 ft each year because of drift in the ice sheet and is therefore replaced yearly during a new year's celebration.  The marker is created each year by the winter machinist. This current one doubles as a sundial. 

The actual South Pole Station can be seen in the background of the above photo. I'll give updates of various specifics of the station throughout the winter, but for a general tour you can check out this link. Since I've been here, the station's summer population has never topped 150. During construction years the population can be over 300, but during the winter there will only be about 44 people here. 

Above is a shot of the South Pole Telescope, where I'm working. It is a 10 meter microwave telescope built to measure various aspects of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB). The telescope is about a 10-15 minute walk from the main station, in what is known as the Dark Sector (radio quiet zone). Around the station there is also a Clean Air Sector (for atmospheric measurements) and a Quiet Sector (where some seismology equipment is set up). 

Telescope as seen from the station