2010 and beyond...life after the dome
Winter 2010
Manager: Mel MacMahon, population 47 (list and photos)
Official end of the "South Pole Station Modernization" project (31 March). This date
was originally picked to coincide with the end of the RPSC contract, which of course
has since been extended to 31 March 2012.
First winter since 2006 with new 300 Club members
In 2007 the temperature dipped into 3 digits but too
briefly for the sauna to get heated up. And in 2008
and 2009 it never got cold enough. But this winter
saw the first triple digit temperatures for, well, 22
minutes, as documented here. For those who missed
that opportunity, the thermometer dipped to -103°F on
5 July, staying in triple digits for about eight hours.
Historic Pole online amateur radio exam produces 8 new hams
Back in the pre-satcom days, ham radio was the only
way Polies could talk to the folks back home. But now
there is still interest, and after a bit of admin
difficulty, volunteer examiner Ernie Gray W1MRQ admi-
nistered the online exam in the large conference room
on 29 October. The result: Eight new Techician licensees!
Here's the Antarctic Sun article with the details (and
the names and new call signs). The event was facilitated
by the ARRL, here's their news article and link to Ernie's
photo of the event, seen at left.
Summer 2010-11
Altie Meadows sewer line freezeup creates lots of work for the UTs and makes summer camp
life, er, difficult
Massive Russian airdrop establishes fuel depot near Pole
On 21 November, a charted Ilyushin dropped a massive
quantity of aircraft fuel, perhaps 8600 gallons...14
miles northwest of Pole in the direction of Novo from
whence the aircraft came. The fuel was sorted out by
some of the ALCI support members of the Indian scien-
tific expedition...some of the fuel was intended for
future science support ventures, and some for ALCI
tourist expeditions. More info on the fuel drop....
Tragic French helicopter crash kills 4
The Squirrel helicopter (file photo, left) had four
men aboard, flying south from the French resupply
vessel L'Astrolabe to Dumont d'Urville. They crashed
on the sea ice 65 miles north of the French station
(more information and credits). Herc's in McM had been
held on standby for a possible medevac of survivors.
Multiple rubber-tired expeditions travel to Pole
The first of three to arrive from Novo was the scientific ex-
pedition from Indian National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean
Research (NCAOR)...8 members of the group showed up on 21 No-
vember in three of the Toyota Hilux AT44 vehicles which had
been modified by Arctic Trucks of Iceland. This was almost
certainly the earliest overland arrival at Pole in history.
The second was the Kazakhstan National Geographic Society
(KNGS) with 4 men and 2 vehicles, showed up on 5 December.
The third was the ski race...six AT44 6x6's were used to
support the event, four went all the way to Pole.
(more information and credits)
The Moon Regan Expedition shows up with more rubber-tired vans and a strange vehicle (3 Dec.)
The main vehicles for this trip were two modified 6x6 Ford
vans from Icecool...what you see in this photo is the Bio-
Inspired Vehicle...an ice sled powered by biofuel. This
trip planned a trans-Antarctic crossing from Union Glacier
to McMurdo, but because of delays they turned around at the
Ross Ice Shelf at the bottom of the Leverett Glacier. This
BIV was only driven as far as Pole; it was parked while the
team continued to the Ross Ice Shelf and was towed back to
Union Glacier on the return trip (more info, photos, credits
and links)
Power plant generator overhaul cycle begun...
So...what happened this summer was that a new alternator showed
up in a 10,000 lb crate...something to seriously test out those
roller conveyors in the LO. This alternator was installed on
generator #1; the old one was shipped out to be rebuilt and
installed on #3 in 2011-12, etc. Yes, the "new" power plant is
now 11 years old--so this was due. In the original dome power
plant the alternators were replaced after 10 years of service...
partly because of rear main seal issues and partly to get
slightly larger units (photo from Michelle Springer).
IceCube drilling successfully completed
The 86th IceCube string was successfully completed on 18
December 2010...after seven years of drilling and a few
more of planning. Now let's go find them neutrinos....
(the rest of the story)
...and test installations begin for the Askaryan Radio Array (ARA)
The project management is another collaboration with signifi-
cant University of Wisconsin involvement...basically it is
another neutrino detector, looking for the highest energy neu-
trinos which emit radio or microwave radiation. It will use
radio antennas above and below the surface in an 80 square km
array, much larger than the IceCube footprint. Since most of
the detectors will be too far away from the station for power
supply, each node will include a wind turbine and a control
unit. This season there were two separate tests...first, 3
sites with wind turbines and control/comms equipment...and
second, some test antennas and control systems. Details...
Old Pole blasted into (presumably) smithereens
The place was imploded with several series of explosions
on 1, 4, and 7 December, using 7600 pounds of dynamite to
collapse all of the "top hats" and many of the main buil-
dings. Info, photos, links and video...
South Pole Telescope jacked up to replace azimuth bearing/gear
The bearing was disintegrating...there was metal in the
lubricant, so it had to be replaced. The consortium brought
in Mammoet, a heavy lift contractor, to install structural
steel and jacks to jack up the telescope, and this sliding
skid so that the old gear could be removed and the new one
installed. Lots of heavy precision work...the full
story and photos.
First documented USAP "real" South Pole Marathon (16 January)
No, the marathon itself was not this paper exercise, but the
race had to be planned out on short notice after the flights
for these 3 erstwhile competitors in the McM Ice Marathon
were cancelled. At left, Marco Tortonese, Christina Knoblock
and Rickey Gates sit in comms the day before the race, plot-
ting the course, planning the aid stations, and soliciting
supporters and volunteers. The event actually featured eleven
participants and 4 full marathon finishers (all the details).
Extreme World Races brings reality TV to Pole with an Austria/Germany team race
This race, a prelude to the larger event planned for the
centenary 2011-12 season, featured two four-person teams
from Austria and Germany in a two-stage 250-mile race to
Pole...featured on Austrian and German television. Who won?
Well, it was kept a secret until March 2011, but the results,
details, links to videos, and Pole party pictures are here.
Chinese expeditioner medevaced from Dome A to Davis Station (7 January)--originally when
the member suffered altitude sickness, the Chines program contacted Pole...and flight
planning began, eventually resulting in a Twin Otter flight from Davis which returned
the patient to sea level. He commenced recovery, was transferred to the Chinese expe-
dition vessel and later returned to China (2011 report presented at the XXXIV Antarctic
treaty meeting in Buenos Aires, June 2011) (MS Word document)
Korean "green expedition" arrives from the coast on solar-powered electric snowmobiles
Four members of the original 6-person team showed up on 28
January after a 41-day trip from Hercules Inlet...barely
completing the journey before the scheduled closure of ALE/
ANI support operations. Charging the batteries for the vehi-
cles for a driving session took at least twice as long as
the driving time...and often charging was impossible due
to overcast and windless days. The rest of the story...
Winter 2011
Manager: Renée-Nicole Douceur, population 49 (list and photos)
6.3 Christchurch earthquake (22 February) wipes out much of the city we know and love, kills
200+, and disrupts the final summer redeployment
The earthquake tragedy is well covered elsewhere...I suggest
the continuing coverage by the Christchurch Press, whose old
downtown building was ravaged. The photo at left is the Press
earthquake coverage logo. All of the normal USAP hotels in
the central business district were off limits, so the final
flights from McMurdo were being linked to RNZAF flights to
Auckland. The penultimate flight left McM on Monday 28 Febru-
ary...the last Airbus flight brought out 33 folks, including lots of fuelies, on 5 March. The
NZ media said this was an "emergency" partly because flights were delayed by a storm, and
partly because the ice breakout around McMurdo was much more significant...USAP coverage...
A major storm helped produce the most significant McMurdo ice breakout since 1998
At left, a composite photo of several NASA satellite images
from the past few years...documenting the fact that in the
early years of this century there were serious issues with
ship access to Winter Quarters Bay...resulting in an NSF
scramble for extra icebreaker assistance. Well, this year
the ice went out way out beyond Pram Point for the first
time in years...unfortunately the major breakout usually
occurs at the end of February...a month too late to help
out the shipping season. Have things changed over the past
century? My coverage...
Strange February expedition to Pole ends up with 3 lost
The 47-foot steel-hulled Norwegian yacht "Berserk II" dropped
off the captain and another crew member at the Bay of Whales
in late February...they planned a trip to Pole on belted quad
bikes. A few days later, a distress beacon was heard from the
Berserk, which is presumed lost with its remaining crew of
three. Meanwhile, the Pole expedition returned to McM to be
flown to NZ on 28 February. The story...
Top ring of the dome is reconstructed in Port Hueneme museum
Eighteen months after the dome was deconstructed, in July 2011
the top ring was reassembled in the new Seabee Museum just out-
side the gates of the Port Hueneme Seabee base (which, of course,
also supports all of the surface cargo shipments to Antarctica
to this day). Read the story and see the rest of the pictures
and links...
...here.
Late winter airdrop delivers urgently needed medical supplies (8/29)
The successful airdrop mission was added to the third scheduled
Air Force winfly flight. Two packages, about 200 pounds each, were
dropped and retrieved without incident...in addition to the medical
stuff, there were other items including Cat parts, a few oranges,
and a fair amount of mail, including some mail order items that had
been ordered only 10 days before the airdrop (!) Here are (more
details, photos, and links to news coverage and video.
Winter site manager Renée-Nicole Douceur has an apparent stroke (8/27)
The 58-year-old engineer from New Hampshire was sitting at her
desk, when suddenly half of her computer screen disappeared.
She immediately sought help from the two physicians on station;
the clinic is well stocked but does not offer CT/MRI equipment.
A medevac was considered but not implemented, as her condition
seemed stable. A month later, her niece created this web site,
as well as a Facebook page (source of the photo at left), to
stir up interest in her plight, and the story caught the atten-
tion of the international media. Yes, she was flown out on the
first transiting Basler...had an MRI in ChCh, and saw specialists
at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The story...
All time wind speed record broken (27 September)
According to Tim Markle in Met, "...the peak wind speed of 50kts/
58mph broke the record for the all-time strongest wind speed at
South Pole. The previous record of 48kts/55mph was set on August
24th, 1989." At left is Robert Schwarz's photo of what MAPO looked
like after the storm. The storm raged from the 21st to the 27th.
This Antarctic Sun article outlines the details and all of the new
records that were set.
Summer 2011-12
Visitors center complex erected near the ceremonial Pole to welcome...
...the many NGO tourists and official visitors that would appear
at Pole to mark the centennial of Amundsen's and Scott's arrival.
This project, as well as new signs, kept the carpenters and IT
folks busy...(details)
...and the first centenary event itself: the 100th anniversary of Amundsen's arrival on 14 December
The highlight of the event was a ceremony at 1600 on the 14th,
in which the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg spoke
and unveiled an ice bust of Roald Amundsen. There were other
speeches and special music at the ceremony...and the event also
featured ski touring, a reception and dinner...and the arrival
of a Norwegian ski team clad in replica clothing from Amundsen's
day. And there were other tourists camped out nearby...in fact,
there were an estimated 93 tourists at Pole, along with 233 USAP
members around--an all time population record. And most of them
were at the ceremony (my coverage)
All-time high temperature record set on Christmas Day
Despite the data that the scroll depicted automagically (left),
the official record high temperature was officially +9.9°F/
-12.3°C recorded at about 1550 on the 25th, breaking the old
record of +7.5°F/-13.6°C on 27 December 1978. Actually, the old
record was broken twice...on the 24th the high temperature
reached +8.1°F/-13.3°C. More details on the heat wave in this
Antarctic Sun article...
