NEWSWell, I WAS going to New Zealand in mid-January, but a case of pneumonia made me cancel that. Meanwhile, yes, Pole closed on 2 March--the latest closing date ever, leaving behind 42 souls for the winter. Other stuff still to be caught up on here...but breaking, the Coast Guard is planning to buy an icebreaker from a unit of Edison Chouest Offshore--yes, the folks who operate the Gould and the Palmer. Details!
Meanwhile, the nongovernmental ventures continued to plug away...or quit. They had to reach Pole by about 18 January per ALE...and their season is over. Updates!. 3 January 2024...Happy New Year! Blame bluegrass shows and festivals for the lack of updates, but they're done for a bit...until I fly to Christchurch (tourist only) on the 14th. Yes, the new Pole marker, fabricated by Cal Neske, was unveiled on New Years Day, I'll get to that with photos in a day or two. Meanwhile...there have been LOTS of nongovernmental ventures...finally tracked all of them down (I think) and my update is here. Several surprises, including a sudden late entry by Colin O'Brady, who showed up at Union Glacier on the 23rd, set out only to stumble into a crevasse after only 4 miles. As for the Antarctic support contract rebid...on 18 December an announcement was made, including an updated schedule and links to reading material...the draft Request for Procurement should be issued by the end of March 2024. 17 December...it's been awhile so there is lots of news! First...the shipping news. The Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star left Seattle on 15 November heading for the ice (16 November Coast Guard News release). It stopped in Honolulu for several days over Thanksgiving, departing on the 27th...crossed the Equator and the Date Line on 4 December, spent several days in Sydney on the 12th, and then headed for Hobart. As for the cargo vessel Ocean Gladiator, it was in Ensenada a week ago, next stop Port Hueneme. The NY Air National Guard got a bit of a late start, but as of 9 December there had been 9 LC-130 flights...and the first Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE) Basler carrying tourists also showed up that week.
The ozone hole this year is described as "modest" in this 20 November Colorado Sun article which features an interview with scientist Stephen Montzka of the NOAA Global Monitoring Lab in Boulder, CO. As for contracts...the helicopter contract award got announced on 1 November to Pathfinder Aviation, based at Merrill Field in Anchorage. It's a series of one-year extendable contract periods. The outgoing contractor Air Center Helicopters did NOT take all of their helicopters home yet, contrary to what I'd heard. But, still no word on bidding for the next Antarctic support contract as of 16 December. 31 October (happy Halloween!)...Pole winter is over! The first Kenn Borek mobilization flight stopped on 24 October on the way from Rothera to McMurdo...bringing freshies from Punta Arenas of course...and the first official summer flight showed up on the 28th! It brought more than a dozen new folks, and a few of the winterovers headed north. Although there's at least one C-130 in Christchurch, I hear they won't show up at Pole until mid-November.
14 October...the first mobilization flight may pass through Pole around the 19th, with the official opening flight around the 26th. Speaking of aircraft, McMurdo's first main body flight happened on 7 October, but as the Airbus full of toasty winterovers rolled for take off for Christchurch, it aborted. Mechanical issues. Everyone got off and went back to town. The aircraft and the winterovers got to head north 2 days later. The dire NSF warnings of budget cuts and subsequent science project cancellations/delays discussed below have translated into terminations for 24 Antarctic Support Contract employees on 6 October. It's the end of September, the sun has been sighted at Pole after some stormy days, and the first main body flight to McMurdo is scheduled for 8 October. U.S. government shutdown update: With less than an hour to go, a 45-day temporary funding bill was passed and signed into law on 30 September. Several previous shutdowns have impacted the U.S. Antarctic program...most seriously in October 2013 when many researchers and employees were sent home from McMurdo and many projects were cancelled. More recently the program and the ASC contractor has put money aside to fund program activities for a time after a shutdown begins. And on 25 September NSF issued a "...Plan for Operations During a Lapse in Appropriations" which briefly addresses the Antarctic and Arctic programs...perhaps this plan will still be necessary in mid-November. NSF's "Morale Program Initiatives" announcement (in other words, ending drink sales at McMurdo and rationing store purchases at all stations) was discussed here when it came out in early August, but at the end of September it hit the news wires. Here's an archived 27 September 2023 item from ABC News which details the issues and quotes NSF as saying the changes involving alcohol are related to morale and welfare and were not aimed at preventing sexual harassment or assault. As for the support contract rebid...something was supposed to be announced in September...but instead of a request for proposals, a Request for Information was issued on 28 September...it seems that the program is still seeking outside input (including from small business) on the type and form of the next contract, as they have been for awhile. The RFI does include a brief draft statement of work. Off the Antarctic coast, it's been reported that the Southern Ocean's sea ice coverage this past winter reached a record low since things have been measured, per this 25 September Washington Post article (which is not paywalled). The article is based on this 25 September report issued by the NSIDC in Boulder, Colorado. Some sad news to OAES...Neil Randall Conant, who worked Pole comms for many years, died on 18 September in West Virginia at the age of 86 (link to obituary pages). He was first hired by the program to work at Siple Station. I remember him well from my time at Pole in the late 80s. At right is a photo (from Jerry Marty) of Neil with Katie Hess during the 2005-06 season when Neil was involved in moving comms from the dome to the elevated station. And That Is All. This 14 September Science article titled "Antarctic Meltdown" (and subtitled "U.S. cancels or curtails half of its Antarctic research projects") describes...just that. The funding cuts were hinted at during the July "Antarctic Science, Infrastructure, and Logistics Office Hours" webinar I witnessed, but this article spells out all of the sad details. The issues are...money of course, program recovery from COVID, and the lack of McMurdo housing as the 203 dormitory has been demolished and the new housing being erected in its place. Signs of spring, the Pole window covers were removed on 31 August, and plans are underway for the sunrise dinner scheduled for Saturday, 23 September. In late August NSF hosted a charrette (participatory design planning process) to provide a forum for science and other Pole folks to give input for preparation of a South Pole master plan. It consisted of four 6-hour sessions in late August--I lurked on Zoom. One purpose was to introduce members of Stanley Consultants, the firm tasked with preparing the plan, to the issues and details of Pole science and operations. I'm hoping that some sort of final report on the sessions will be issued.
And another bit of strange news...despite the fancy new earth station at McMurdo, other options are still being considered by NSF...there is a proposal out there to run a submarine cable to McM from either NZ or Australia. At present they're just doing a market study to see if there is a consultant who can work on this potential project...details here. I'm reminded that 20 years ago NSF was considering running a cable from Pole north to somewhere where they could set up a remote earth station that could see geosynchronous satellites. Wonder how long that would have stayed up...seriously, they should have run that cable to Concordia! As for Winfly, it finally started on 26 August, more than 2 weeks late! And after the cold weather that had postponed it, more recently there's been some Condition 1 instead. Winfly is happening...the C-17 is in Christchurch but...no flights yet AFAIK on 22 August. A week late due to weather as usual, but this time not because of storms but because of temperatures...it's been below -40 (ºF/ºC)!
Several other relevant items appear on the SAM.gov site...including procurement of additional scaffolding material for the NOAA met tower at Pole, as well as procurement of a floating pier barge to be used at McMurdo in lieu of the ice pier or pontoon causeway system. Bids on that are due on 6 September. At right is the general arrangement plan of the 328' x 100' barge; additional details are on these PDF drawings selected from the many in the bid package. Also of interest...this 1 August USAP.gov article which indicates that the floating pier is to be delivered in February 2026. Speaking of things that float...on 9 August Bollinger announced that they'd cut the first steel for what will be the first of the Coast Guard's new heavy icebreakers aka Polar Security Cutters...the future USCGC Polar Sentinel (PSC-1) per this U.S. Naval Institute article...which notes that the vessel design is based on that of the yet-to-be built German icebreaker Polarstern II...thanks to Russell Rapp for this article. Meanwhile, this 31 July Maritime Executive article reports that there have been unreliable schedule and cost estimates for the new icebreakers, in part due to significant design issues. Note that the construction of this vessel was originally awarded to VT Halter, but this Pascagoula, MS shipyard was sold to Bollinger in 2021.
A sad note regarding...the implosion of the submersible Titan on 18 June...it seems that one of five passengers was Hamish Harding, who'd been involved with the development of White Desert and the Wolf's Fang runway...had accompanied Buzz Aldrin on a fateful NGO visit to Pole in December 2016 (Aldrin was medevaced), and also was the chief pilot on a record-setting business jet transpolar world circumnavigation in July 2019. On 12 June 2023 NSF announced their COVID-19 management plan for the 2023-24 season...briefly, this involves testing before deployment, masking and some isolation for 5 days before leaving McMurdo for field camps, for 5 days after arrival at Pole, or if tested positive at any of the stations. Also, NGO group tours will be permitted at all 3 stations provided that tour group members have tested negative within 72 hours, and all tour members as well as their guide must wear masks. The full details are outlined on this NSF page and detailed in the linked detailed management plan document (PDF). Also issued on 12 June, this 2023 Update on Science Support and Infrastructure in Antarctica--brief summary: the stations and research vessels are pretty well booked up.
Sunset has happened at Pole...at least "officially" as the March equinox happened at 1024 on Tuesday 21 March (BTW Pole and NZ are still on daylight saving time/UTC+13 until 2 April). Needless to say there will may still be sun sightings in the next days due to atmospheric refraction. And there was a Sunset Dinner on Saturday the 25th.
After the ship offload evolutions at McMurdo were completed, Polar Star transited to Palmer Station, arriving in early March. This was its first visit to Palmer since 1988! Here's the 10 March USAP.gov article...the photo at right from the article, Polar Star in Arthur Harbor, is by Marissa Goerke.
Ship offload update...a second cruise ship has passed briefly by McMurdo...this was the Heritage Adventurer which actually made TWO brief passes by McMurdo. The more recent visit was around 1800 18 February for a medevac. A C-17 stayed overnight at McM to pick up the patient. Link to that portion of my ship offload coverage.
Signs of the end of summer...Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE) closed up their Union Glacier camp on 31 January...after earlier shutting down the tourist camp at Pole. Who showed up at that tourist camp (other than by airplane)...my final coverage of the 2022-23 venture season.
And speaking of the Australian program, its director Kim Ellis has resigned (30 January), with little explanation...although this ABC News (Australia) article refers to a "cultural review" which revealed accusations of sexual harassment. He'd been in the position since February 2019...earlier he'd spent 24 years in the Australian Army between 1973 and 1997, during which he'd spent time in Antarctica. McMurdo vessel update...the most important thing to note is that there is now a pier webcam at this USAP.gov site...updated every few seconds with archives from the past 24 hours. As of 26 January McM time, the first cargo vessel Ocean Giant had docked at the ice pier, which has been moved away from the ship offload site. Components of the pontoon causeway were offloaded and assembled...and ship offload is now well underway...my detailed coverage is here.
The Nathaniel B. Palmer showed up at McMurdo briefly for 3 days on 15 January as seen in the photo at left by Peter Neff, which also shows the icebreaker Polar Star in the background. What's of interest here is...that ice pier. It's unsuitable for ship offload as it isn't thick enough and has a crack, but it was okay for light docking use such as happened here. It left on the 18th for a long science cruise, the next scheduled port is Lyttelton on 28 February.
Alas, COVID has not been fully absent from Pole...or McMurdo. To try and stop the spread, there are isolation and masking protocols in place at both stations.
Other news...the Polar Star showed up in McMurdo on 3 January 2023. It had left Seattle on 16 November. It next spent almost 6 days at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam between 24 and 30 November where Thanksgiving was celebrated. It then continued on to a Royal Australian Navy fuel pier at Chowder Bay (near downtown Sydney) where it received fuel and supplies on 14 December (15 December Coast Guard News article). Next stop: Hobart, where it spent nearly 4 days between 17-21 December (23 December Coast Guard news release) and (27 December gCaptain article). Despite the fact that there wasn't any ice around a few months ago, there is some now. Polar Star first encountered pack ice on Christmas Day, and here is a Coast Guard/dvids video showing the icebreaker transiting through pack ice on Boxing Day. On 18 November NSF issued a revised Coronavirus Update...significant details: no new cases in the previous 4 days, and a total of 29 currently active cases. All cases but one have been mild. The details from NSF:
15 November...over the past weekend NSF sent out this Coronavirus Update by email...of note is that all but 1 has been mild. In other news, at least one LC-130 flight with passengers has traveled from McM to Pole, and the first South Pole Traverse (SPoT 1) left McM on about the 13th! 6 November 2022 update...COVID-19!! More than 70 cases in McMurdo. On 4 November NSF issued this "Response to Covid cases..." which is the first time as far as I know that this situation was made public. The first case was confirmed on 24 September. Some responses...all flights between McMurdo and Pole have been suspended, interaction between Scott Base and McMurdo has been stopped except for necessary work, with the New Zealanders wearing N95 masks. As I mentioned here earlier, this year the deployment process was mostly back to pre-pandemic operation (no quarantine isolation, commercial flights etc.). Here is an interesting 4 November NBC News article which includes comments from program participants. And on 5 November NSF announced a minimum 2-week suspension of all flights between Christchurch and McMurdo except for essential health and safety reasons. They also recommended(!?) KN95 masks. 
5 November...Art Brown passed away on 4 November US time at the age of 87. For ITT Antarctic Services in the 1980s he was the Continental Systems Manager (McMurdo, Pole, Siple Stations), later into this century he served as the NSF manager in the Christchurch office. Earlier, he worked for ITT and other contractors at DEW Line and BMEWS sites in Greenland and Alaska. I first met him in Thule in 1978 when he was the ITT BMEWS Site 1 manager there, and I was hired as the facility engineer. Earlier...in the early 60s he worked as a technician at the DEW Line site at Oliktok Point, Alaska, which is very close to the present Prudhoe Bay oilfield. Of course this was before oil was discovered there in 1967. Hopefully I'll have more obituary or memorial information available soon. And note...hopefully unaffected by the COVID mess, a number of new nongovernmental Pole ventures have been announced or updated. My coverage is here, remember that this is the only website that has continuously provided coverage since the last century.
In early September, NSF released a report (report PDF) indicating that the US Antarctic Program is rife with sexual harassment and assault. This report was covered in depth in two Science magazine (AAAS) articles. The first of these, published on 2 September 2022, is titled "Sexual harassment plagues Antarctic Research", while the second, published on 14 September and titled "Sexual harassment ignored by U.S. Antarctic research program, employees say" quotes some people you might know. And on 3 October the National Science Board (NSB) issued this Statement on Sexual Harassment and Misconduct in U.S. Antarctic Program which includes additional information links. The New York Air National Guard (NYANG) started sending the first of five ski Hercs south from Schenectady on 19 October 2022...the folks in Denver are still looking to fill a bunch of summer and winterover positions...check out my updated Antarctic jobs info page.... And it looks like there will be a huge crowd of nongovernmental travelers to Pole this summer--have a look at my updated list! And I must add...as this year the deployment process is mostly back to pre-pandemic operation (commercial flights etc.)...there still are COVID tests required here and there, and folks have tested positive in McMurdo...oops. ***Some older items of interest (other old news is in the archive): WIRED magazine has a feature article on Jerry Marty, Carlton Walker, and the station construction in the July 2002 issue. Read about the settlement problems...why the place wasn't considered fit for occupancy for the 2002 winter.
Another new science project...in 2002 a 10-meter submillimeter telescope (up from 8 meters!) that will search for new galaxy clusters and study dark energy. Plans were to attach it to the DSL (dark sector lab) University of Chicago press release. It was originally scheduled to have a ground shield that is larger than the Dome (built by Temcor, the same company that built the dome...). The telescope was completed in 2006-07, and the huge ground shield was eventually cancelled. On 8/13/02 NSF had a meeting with potential contractors and suppliers for a possible fiber optic cable to Dome C. Yes, you read that right (news article). Since Pole is way below the horizon for the commercial geosynchronous satellites, one option is to run a cable about 1050 miles to the newly constructed French/Italian Concordia Station at Dome C. (This station is scheduled for full-time occupancy next winter.) The project calls for several years of studies and trials, with the actual stuff involving traverses to get the cable to Pole and Dome C as well as along the route. Back in mid March 2002 two other iceberg events happened. First, there was another piece of the Thwaites Ice Tongue (75°S-108°W) about 2100 square miles (Guardian article and archived NOAA press release) which got designated B22. And then there was the collapse of another hunk of the Larsen ice shelf east of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Larsen Ice Shelf B disintegrated within the past couple of months, as evidenced by archived photos and animations from the NSIDC in Boulder, which also has links to other coverage. The BBC has an excellent article about both events. The venerable New South Polar Times mailing list moved to a home on Yahoo, thanks to 2001 w/o science tech Andrea Grant. There have been no posts in the past few years, but the archived posts are here. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) had a major feature on the Pole construction in their December 2000 magazine, including articles by Frank Brier and Jerry Marty. That section is no longer online, although I did archive the original article by Dennis Berry and Forrest Braun (BBFM Engineers, Anchorage) which features the details of foundation design and the jacking systems. Here is the link to my 1999 Doc Jerri medevac coverage. The spectacular April 2001 medevac flight to Pole is covered here. And my archive of other news, links to press releases, and older media coverage is here. Other Antarctic news sites...Explorersweb and its newer offshoot Pythom have been covering exploration news ever since the early 2000's. The sites were originally created by Tom and Tina Sjogren, the "Wearable" expedition folks that trekked to Pole in 2001-02. During the past year the sites have been relaunched...at present (July 2018) it appears that the Pythom.com site is covering primarily space and science news, while Explorers Web continues to cover climbing, water, and polar expeditions, although one needs to use the search bar to locate specific coverage. The Sjogrens are still involved with the site. Brendon Grunewald's old 70 South news site later evolved into the Polar Conservation Organisation , but that site also seems to have disappeared. The Antarctic Sun is extremely prolific of late. The editor through July 2015 was friend Peter Rejcek, a 2004 Polie winterover.. He's currently a traveling freelancer; some of his work can be found on singularityhub. The current editor, also a friend, is Michael Lucibella. Sun archives run back to 1996-97, the final year when the McMurdo newspaper was a Navy publication, the Antarctic Sun Times. Before then in the old days it went by other names....here is that story. NZ Antarctic Philately pages by Steven McLachlan . The news page features many current events through 2006, including many pictures from the various private expeditions at Pole. He also has information on the 99-00 cruises of the Polar Duke south of NZ in support of German and Italian science projects, 98-99 construction of the new base at Dome C... The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) published biweekly newsletters on NGA (private) expeditions, cruises and tourist events. Unfortunately this was discontinued in May 2003, and the archives are no longer available. But they do feature a separate news page for the official Australian program. The NSF Polar Programs (PLR) page contains links and a search engine. Most recent press releases are also here, scroll to the bottom. The rest of the story... can now be read online or offline in the newsletter of the Antarctican Society. Highly recommended. Here is the latest contact info as well as the historical background about the group. [top] | [home]Weather information... has been moved to a separate page. About the satellites...has also been moved to a separate page. [top] | [home]SPORTS (?!)The 2019 Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM XLII) was held in Prague, Czech Republic, between 1-11 July. Once again I saw absolutely NO American media coverage...but that was not the case in Australia. This is because the Chinese delegation proposed a "code of conduct" for their Kunlun Station at Dome A...in the midst of Australia's claim. It was rejected, as was a 2014 effort to create an ASMA there. Here's the ABC News (Australia) article) about this, the discussion report about the Chinese request, China's proposed code of conduct text, and a map of the proposed area, which interestingly resembled the Pole ASMA in both size and nomenclature. Of course, Kunlun (unlike Pole) doesn't get any NGO visitors--skiers, trekkers, tourists, pilots, etc. I always look for a Russian report about the Lake Vostok drilling project, but there have been no reports in recent years, although Russia did propose the construction of new winterover station facilities. The 2020 meeting was to be held 25 May-4 June in Helsinki, Finland, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused it to be canceled. The 2021 meeting is still scheduled to be held in Paris on 14-24 June 2021, pandemic permitting. Here is the official Treaty home page. From there you can navigate to the final reports, or you can search the various meeting papers by selecting the "Meeting From/To" and/or the submitting nations/delegations. Nowadays there are a number of commercial marathon/ultramarathon ventures in the Antarctic...most commonly sought out by people who want to complete a marathon on all seven continents. I've updated these listings in July 2022.
As for nongovernmental visitors to Pole, the 2011-12 season was the biggest ever for Pole, as it had been the centennial year of Amundsen's and Scott's arrival at what has been called an "awful place." But folks continue to show up. There are two principal tourist operators--flights from Punta Arenas to Union Glacier and beyond are operated by Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE) (which has now fully assimilated Adventure Network International/ANI). ALE continues to be actively booking tourists. The other operation is based out of the airstrip at Novo (Novolazarevskaya), a Russian base which is served by flights from Cape Town. It has been operated by Antarctic Logistics Centre International (ALCI), which did not in itself offer tour services, but rather worked with other tour agencies such as White Desert, which has established a tourist destination "Whichaway Camp" near Novo (no, nowhere near the Whichaway Nunataks) with penguin colonies and mountains nearby. TAC also operates its "Oasis" guesthouse--the only hard-roofed commercial base on the Antarctic continent, about 10 miles from Novo at Schirmacher Oasis. TAC does not do bookings directly...one option for a stay at the Oasis Guesthouse is offered by Icetrek...€30,000 ex Cape Town. Novo is a 3000m blue ice runway originally built by ANI near the Russian Novolazarevskaya base, in the past it was known as Blue One, and on some maps you may see it designated as "White Desert." Perhaps the most serious travel agent booking Pole trips is the Chicago-based company Polar Explorers...they are booking trips to Pole via PA/Union Glacier starting at around US$51,250 ex PA. My updated records of the nongovernmental expeditions (skiers/hikers/kiters/drivers/sledders etc...) back to 2000 is here. Remember, this website is the only one that has been continuously covering them since 1999 so I have all the archived links. For now, go here for the 1999-2000 ventures. Note that the 1999-2000 Russian "Millennium Expedition" (skydiving/ballooning) is covered on a separate page. [top] |
