First year of Pole-Plateau traverse sets out from Pole on a zigzag track to
   the "Pole of Inaccessability" (82°6'S-55°E)
Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorders put in operation (11/16)

This 1/96 photo is from Pat Mock. Perhaps these
are the same ones from 1965 (or today). Old and
reliable technology--sunlight is focused by the
glass sphere and chars a line on a calibrated
cardboard strip. In most latitudes without 24
hour daylight, only one instrument is needed...

Replacement D-8 shipped in and assembled

The winter 1964 garage fire destroyed three
tractors including one D-8, so this 78,000-
pound replacement was shipped in (in sections)
and reassembled by a 3-man team, working outside,
in 3 weeks. On 8 January the assembled D-8 was
used to start construction of the replacement
garage, built at the end of fuel cache #1 (photo
from the Bulletin of the U. S. Antarctic Projects
Officer, March 1965)

Balloon inflation buildings replaced

The original inflation shelter was at grade level
with the rest of the station, with hatch doors in
the roof. The new H2 generator hut was built on the
same level, while the inflation tower (which would
be destroyed by explosion a year later) was built
above the snow with telescoping support columns,
with the launch doors on the south (downwind) side.
This photo (by Steve Kauffman) was taken from the
forward scatter antenna looking northeast; the aurora
tower is at left and the Dobson hut is at right.

Original field telephone system replaced
GCA equipment installed; first GCA landing 1/31 with 2 miles visibility
21-mile VLF antenna near Byrd constructed
Little Rockford summer weather station closed for the last time
Palmer Station (Old Palmer) constructed and occupied
McMurdo dispensary (the present one) construction started

OIC: LT R.M. Beazley, population 21 (list and photo)
New record low temperature (7/22), -113.2°F/-80.7°C
Present room-sized steam bath constructed in the shop building (original garage) 
Cosray lab covered with the copper screening to reduce interference
First w/o at (old) Palmer
U. S. Weather Bureau, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and other agencies consolidated
   into ESSA (Environmental Science Services Administration) (5/13); ESSA would
   include the "ESSA Research Laboratories" (ERL), with Pole research based in
   Boulder
Byrd USARP guy Carl Disch gets lost between "radio noise" building and main
   station tunnel during windstorm; he was never found despite extensive
   winter and summer searches (photos and official Navy reports)
Brockton, a weather station on the Ross Ice Shelf (78°45'S-174°40W) established
   in October to replace Little Rockford (79°14'S-147°29'W near the former
   LA5-Byrd tractor trail)
North Star Research and Development Institute of Minneapolis assumes contract
   for operation of McMurdo biolab (and presumably Hallett's as well), October

Station opening flight 10/23, earliest to date
Bust of Admiral Byrd dedicated at McM (10/23)

At first the memorial was located next to the original
chapel; it would be moved and rearranged (!), as seen
here, until it ended up in front of the Chalet where
it is today (more photos and the rest of the story)

Rob Flint and others pass through on their way to the site of Plateau Station
   (12/13); station constructed (4 modules) and occupied permanently for
   the next three years (79°S-40°30'E)
Second deck added in supply tunnel
New heating system installed in balloon inflation shelter...
Fire suppression system installed in power plant
First commercial aircraft flight over Pole (11/17) in a chartered 707

The flight holds several records including the
first transpolar round-the-world flight. It
was organized and piloted by Fred Austin, who
then was a chief pilot for TWA. The aircraft
was the Boeing 707-349C #N322F with 35 on board
including 5 pilots, scientists studying the atmosphere, and the first test
prototype of Litton's inertial navigation system (which worked perfectly).
One of the pilots was Bernt Balchen, who had piloted Byrd's flight over Pole
in 1929. Balchen was at the controls when this flight pased over Pole (which
was plainly visible). He looped around the station several times. The aircraft
carried 2 2000-gallon bladders in the main fuselage for extra fuel storage;
these sloshed around alarmingly during takeoffs. The flight route was Honolulu/
London/Lisbon/BA/ChC/Honolulu, 15-17 November (photos and stats from Wingnet).

Large iceberg(!) causes problems with the shipping channel

In December this guy floated into the channel...
800 feet long by 200'...and 80' above the water-
line. Here the three Navy icebreeakers nuzzle it
out of the way (12/29)--Burton Island, Atka, and
Glacier (Antarctic Journal, March 1966).

About a year later these icebreakers were trans-
ferred to the Coast Guard.

First year of New Zealand Air Force C-130-H support flights to McM...and
   US Air Force C-130E aircraft also provide ChCh-McM airlift support
Three 25,000 gallon DFA bladders added for additional bulk fuel storage
Two Argentine military teams show up

The first was an Air Force venture (a souped-up C-47
and two Beavers) that arrived on 3 November. Later in
the season a 10-man Army scientific traverse arrived
from Belgrano (more information).

Other summer visitors included Peter Scott (Robert's son) who arrived on an
   LC-130 flight from McM as part of a BBC film crew
Balloon explodes while being filled, most of the balloon inflation shelter is
   destroyed (1/31)

Here's what the BIT looked like after the
explosion. Hydrogen was routinely used by
met for the weather balloons (photo from
Henry Storm). The damage required an emer-
gency rebuild by CBU 201, here is a look at
the replacement shelter in use Navy photo, 
AJ 5/71

First fatality occurs (2/14), Navy ASA supply w/o SK2 Andrew Burl Moulder
   is crushed between a cargo sled and the LC-130 during aircraft unloading
   operations

Here is Andrew Burl Moulder at Pole. Please
visit my memorial page with photos
and tributes from friends and family.

Eights (Siple Station predecessor) closed (11/15), generators and equipment
   later shipped to Plateau 
Byrd Longwire, next predecessor to Siple and of similar design and purpose, 
   construction started (12/10) 15 miles from Byrd to use the 21-mile antenna
   (plus a new 10-mile dipole) for U. of Washington VLF research
Pole-Plateau Traverse zigzags on to Plateau Station
McM construction: Original desal plant constructed next to nuclear plant, along
   with first water distribution piping and first flush toilets...which were in
   the new (present) dispensary. Desal plant, piping, toilets, and dispensary 
   were tested and shut down until the following season. Also, demo and site 
   prep started for Building 155, and Earth Sciences Lab (TESL) completed
Little Jeana weather station closed for the last time

OIC: LT William R. Griffin, population 18 (list and photos)
After several power failures, PP mechanic installs automatic low frequency
   alarms (to wake him up if there is a problem)
Plateau evacuated to emergency camp (7/6-15) due to generator problems; pp
   mechanic fabricates homemade replacement gaskets based on radio advice
   from Caterpillar
Winter medevac from McM (6/7, PF1 Robert Mayfield, who'd suffered a ruptured
   bladder or spleen from a fall) 
Another from Byrd 9/13, aurora physicist Lawrence Spitz with accute peritonitis
   or appendicitis--LC-130 #319 flew directly back to CHCH from Byrd...no surgery
   until 3 months later (!)
Brockton weather station moved to 80°01'S-178°02W (October)

Opening flight 10/19, even earlier than the previous year's record, not beaten
   until the 10/16/99 flight
UCLA "Earth Tides" gravity meters installed
First Navy parachute jump (12/23) by Jim Thomann with VX-6 pararescue
   team...free jump from 16,000' with oxygen
Generator tunnel end wall rebuilt

One of the timber-reinforced tunnels as it
appeared when Bob Nyden took this picture in
1971...according to Jim Wallace we're looking
past the door into fuel cache #2, with a fuel
hose by the door

McM construction: Building 155 erection begins, desal and fresh water piping
   systems placed in operation, dispensary occupied
First test landing of C-141 aircraft at McM ice runway (11/16)

Looks like everyone has his camera out!
This would be a common way to get to the
ice when there was a good runway avail-
able...and after the mid 1990s these air-
craft could land at the Pegasus runway in
late summer. I rode the last C-141 to fly
to McMurdo in January 2005 a week before it
made the final such trip (U. S. Navy photo
courtesy Mike Davis).

Deep icecap coring project at Byrd begins
102' met tower constructed at Plateau (similar to the one built at Pole
   15 years later)
First ascent of Vinson Massif (12/17), at 16,860' the tallest Antarctic
   peak, in a USARP-supported venture led by Nicholas Clinch. They col-
   lected rock samples and did several other first ascents in the Ells-
   worth Range  
Palmer pier, fuel tanks constructed, Biolab pad and subfloor completed

OIC: LT R. C. Sullivan, population 21 (list)...
including the first Soviet exchange scientist Peter Astakhov
First of 2 winters of major sleep project (EEG tests etc.)
Station evacuated to emergency camp for 24 hours (5/16) due to fumes from
   a broken 5-gallon can of carbon tetrachloride
Electric heater falls out of a wall onto the wooden deck and starts smoking
   (7/4) threatening seismo equipment...no damage
Trivia: average winter alcohol consumption was 54 cases of beer and 6 cases
   of liquor for each of the 20 men (some of whom were nondrinkers) 
Fire destroys new Willy Field head modules
First McM planned "winfly" held (actually 2, on 6/18 and 9/2)...here is
   the 11/67 Antarctic Journal article about it (Adobe PDF file)

The 18 June flight included a biology team
from Old Dominion College in Norfolk, VA;
they were looking at what algae did in the
winter. The program involved extensive diving,
unfortunately good fast sea ice didn't form
until September, restricting access along the
normal sea ice routes. On one trip to Cape
Royds on 31 July this Nodwell found a crack
and sank (AJ, March/April 1968. photo by 
Graeme Johnstone). Team leader Jacques
Zanefeld injured his foot while escaping.
Oops. The taillights of the Nodwell stayed
on after it sank, casting eerie beams of red light into the night sky. Folks
up at the nuclear plant thought they might be UFO's (graphic from the McMurdo
Sometimez). Turns out that one member of the diving team (and the driver of
this vehicle) was Dave Bresnahan on his first trip to the ice. Here's a view 
of the group on another day, with Dave in the "water" (AJ, July-August 1968,
photo by Bill Boggs). The group left on the second winfly in September.

Major excavation and rehab of power plant and adjacent tunnels

Looking north along the builders tunnel,
which has been excavated to repair the
collapsing power plant (structure at left).
Straight ahead is the door of the BU/UT
shop building which housed the steam bath
and the water tanks. At right is the head.
The power plant was moved one more time, to
a structure closer to the surface and south
of the power plant building shown here, part
of which was converted into a small gym in
1969-70. (NOAA photo by Fred Walton)

Long-distance medevac from Halley Bay staged through Pole (12/5)
Weather Bureau (ESSA soon to become NOAA) starts installing the GMCC stuff
   (geophysical/global monitoring for climatic change, later renamed CMDL)
Summer visitors include Werner Von Braun who joins the 200 club
Memorial bust of Admiral Byrd (identical to the McM sculpture) dedicated
   (10/31) (story and photos)
First drill (mechanical) holes through Antarctic ice to rock at Byrd (7100')
   (1/29) with good 4-1/4" diameter cores (samples were recovered, but a 
   drill became stuck at 6930' (2/1/69) and further recovery efforts during
   69-70 were unsuccessful)
Major realignment of McM-Scott Base road completed
Last DC-3's (R4Ds or LC-47s or gooney birds, whatever) leave the ice
First tourist vessel shows up at McM (Magga Dan, it runs aground!)
First fossil bone from a land vertebrate is discovered at Graphite Peak
   (Queen Maud Range)(12/28), it would help confirm continental drift theory
Last leg of Pole-Plateau traverse, postponed for a year, zigzags from Plateau
   on into Queen Maud Land (78°42'S-6°52'W)
New Palmer construction crew of 33 men completes Biolab which is occupied
   (3/17), pad for GWR worked on
McM construction: BFC (Field Party Processing Center) shell erected along
   with pad for building 165); second desal unit installed in "old water 
   plant" (flash desal units would continue to be replaced every few years
   with different metallurgy until RO units took their place)
First McM "long-duration" (24 hours) ballooning experiments launched from
   Windless Bight using 300,000 cf balloons, to look for extraterrestrial
   electrons and X-rays, by Martin Pomerantz

OIC: LTJG John Hedley, population 21 (list)
Snow melter building destroyed by fire (8/11); no injuries
Second year of "Sleep" studies

Starting with the 1967 winter, the University
of Oklahoma spent two years monitoring behavior
and sleep patterns at Pole. Methods included
questionnaires, interviews, studies of inter-
action and leisure time, and electroencephalo-
graphic (EEG) tests, such as NOAA guy Fred
Walton is undergoing here. U of O continued
various medical studies at Pole for many years
including our 1977 winter...their research teams
brought some of the first female USARPs to Pole.
NOAA photo from Fred Walton

First winter of long-running "all-sky camera" auroral photography by S.-I. 
   Akasofu (UA-Fairbanks)
Serious roof leaks cause water damage to books, data etc. in science building
R/V Hero launched (in the US, 3/28)
Major generator problems at Plateau; fire destroys garage, temporary
   evacuations to summer camp required
Record low temperature at Plateau (-121.3°F/-86.2°C on 7/20 (some say that if
   Plateau would have been occupied when Vostok had its low temps, Plateau
   would have been colder)
Holmes and Narver awarded NSF contract for science support at McM, taking over
   from North Star R&D

Significant safety repairs required to enable station operations to continue
Skua sighted (12/19)
Snow melter rebuilt; doubled capacity
Power plant rehab completed (this wasn't the long term solution to the 
   overheating/settlement problems; a new structure went up a year later)
Met GMD platform/radome structure raised 8' to clear drifting and  planned
   power plant structure

One of three ozonesondes launched by the Weather
Bureau in December--actually a combined radiosonde/
radiometersonde/ozonesonde of the newly developed
ECC (electrochemical concentration cell) type. These
flights reached an average burst height of 24,457 m.
Not the first year for ozone balloons--the first ones,
several of the carbon-iodine type, were launched the
previous summer. ESSA/NOAA used ozonesondes sporadic-
ally between 1967 and 1971, and regularly since 1986 

Met GMD platform/radome raised 8' to clear drifting and new power plant
   structure
Model of the proposed domed station set out in the snow for a study of snow
   drifting patterns

The one-tenth scale model stayed around for
awhile...this U. S. Navy photo appeared in
the March 1970 New Zealand journal Antarctic.
Here's another photo from Bob Nyden that
showed up in the DF-73 ASA/VXE-6 cruisebook 

Major Japanese traverse arrives (12/19)

The glaciology traverse had traveled from the
Japanese Showa Station on the coast, with a
refueling stop at Plateau; they stayed on
station until after Christmas dinner before
retracing their course (U. S. Navy photo;
Antarctic Journal, March-April 1969).

Martin Pomerantz and Bartol team launch balloon-borne cosmic ray
   detectors from the ice near McM--the first year of a 2-season
   project. Some were tracked for more than 2 days--a precursor to
   today's long-duration missions
Pomerantz also brings 2 small telescopes to Pole for summer solar
   observations and winter use by the cosray observer
First regularly scheduled C-141 flights to McM (10/29)
VX-6 (Air Development Squadron Six) renamed VXE-6 (Antarctic Development
   Squadron Six) (1/1)

In recent times some of the long-term station residents
have brought mountain bikes to commute to the far
reaches of the station. During the 1999-2000 season
CARA sponsored a research project to design and test a
new prototype bicycle. Here is one of the cycling
pioneers--LT John Mander of VXE-6 was a pilot on 320
during 1968-69, and he took this unicycle almost
everywhere he went (caption).

First year without picket ships (2 destroyers stationed on ChCh-McM flight
   path for weather forecasting) no longer needed because of weather 
   satellites
Inland stations (Pole/Byrd/Plateau) adopt McM/NZ time (+12) during summer
Third major airlift of penguins/skuas etc. from McM to American zoos
McM construction: shells of Building 165, Hotel California completed; pad
   for Chalet prepared; 
BFC occupied; galley half of 155 completed--first meal served 1/30
Plateau Station closed (1/29)
Private Convair 990A "Polar Byrd I" passes over Pole (11/22) on McM-Argentina
   leg of successful round-the-world flight organized by BAE II veteran Fred
   Dustin (Wingnet and Skymart links). The flight refueled at McMurdo--never
   again permitted for an airliner. Here is an article on the venture from
   Antarctic (the NZ Antarctic Society journal)
NGA solo pilot Max Conrad shows up at Palmer (12/21) in his twin-engined
   Piper Aztec; after making it to Adelaide Island he bags his round-the-
   world trip until the next season due to the lack of 100-octane fuel on
   the ice (the Max Conrad pages)
Hero shows up at Palmer for the first time (12/25)
Palmer construction/problems--fire destroys construction camp Jamesways
   (12/18) with no injuries but loss of all personal possessions/clothing;
   blasting accident in March sends a boulder through the air 100 yards to
   crash through another Jamesway roof--it hit the Seabee OIC LT Harry 
   Anderson in the head while he was drinking coffee! Medevac required. All
   this while the pads for GWR and the helo pad (runway matting) were being
   cleared. Later the GWR shell was completed and the small boat ramp was built

OIC: LT Bradley J. Bowman, population 20 (list and photos)
August medevac from Byrd (diabetes complications)

First year with female USARPS at McM, 4 OSU geologists headed for a field
   camp in the Dry Valleys; they plus 1 NZARP and 1 reporter, Jean Pearson
   of the Detroit News, become the first 6 women at Pole, they all step
   off the LC-130 ramp at the same time so no one is "first."

Here is one photo of the 6 women leaving the
plane accompanied by RADM Kelly Welch...check
out the caption (US Navy photo courtesy
Billy-Ace Baker) as well as the rest of the
photos courtesy of Kelly Welch.

New power plant constructed The photo at right (from the 1972-73 summer; Navy cruisebook photo) looks north at the builders' tunnel; the power plant structure is to the west of the ramp. This was the last of at least 9 power generation buildings (prime and emergency) built at this station. Heat dissipation problems (and resulting settlement) of buried generator plants was a never-ending problem--at least this structure wasn't buried! Left of the GMD dome is (I think) a garage. At left is a view (from 12/70) looking south with the power plant behind the GMD. I presume this plant used those ubiquitous CAT 342 generators. Caption: "Smoke billows from the stacks of the power plant at South Pole Station." (US Navy photo from Dan Bolton)

"Top hats" added to 2 other buildings

No, I don't know which building this is, but
before it was over all of the older buried
buildings ended up with these, 8' high false
attics, covered with  plywood and sealed with
plastic or canvas. These reduced the roof snow
load and served as insulation barriers to keep
snow from melting and leaking in. U. S. Navy
photo, Antarctic Journal, July/August 1970)

Dr. Laurence M. Gould visits to commemorate Admiral Byrd's flight

The 40th anniversary of Byrd's flight from Little
America over the South Pole was marked with a brief
ceremony on 11/29. Participants included Byrd's
pilot Bernt Balchen. Here Larry Gould is laying a
plastic wreath at the base of the flagpole. Photo
from the Carleton College archives

Replacement OIC office/store/post office built
Max Conrad tries again from the other direction, arriving on 1/19

Max crashed (1/23) while doing practice takeoffs.
No injury, but the aircraft was unflyable and is
still there, safely buried. Here is the full
story, revealed here for the first time

2 Norwegians, the "flying Vikings," Thor Tjøntveit and Einar Sverre Pedersen,
   show up in a twin-engine Cessna 421 12 hours after Max (1/20)

They stay 5 hours before returning to MCM. NSF
policy for NGA visits such as these: "Such pri-
vate ventures are charged for fuel and services."
More information and another photo...

Average summer population: 36 (this was the last season before new station
   construction started)
Station design completed; first vessel shipments of dome and arch structural 
   material delivered to McM

These early versions of the artist's conception
are presumably the ones using a hydrogen gene-
rator, since the helium arch seems to be missing.

The separate arch near the garage was to be the
emergency camp structure, which was part of the
final design but it never quite got built. For
some reason the artist thought that the buildings
inside the dome would have windows! (NSF images; 
the B&W drawing appeared in the Antarctic
Journal, November/December 1971)

Geologist Thomas E. Berg killed in helicopter crash (11/19) on the side of
   Mt. McLennan; NZ cameraman Jeremy Sykes also killed
Siple Station first named and established (12/3) as a summer station for VLF
   balloon launches and a 1-1/2 mile long antenna   
First "UGO" (unmanned geophysical observatory) set up by Stanford at Byrd
   (instrument capsule with propane thermoelectric generator on a 20' tower)
McM construction: Barracks half of 155 completed, Hotel California completed,
   Chalet completed (in 1 season by H&N crews)

Must have been an early construction start. The picture at left was taken on 9 November 1969. At right, the structure is nearly completed. H&N construction folks spent the next couple of summers coating those precast concrete foundation piers with polyurethane to seal out moisture that was causing freeze-thaw damage. (Left photo by RM3 Ken "Hogman" Trettin, WO McMurdo DF-70; right U. S. Navy photo from the Antarctic Journal, July/August 1970)

First year with only one tanker delivery to McM; until now lack of fuel
 storage had required multiple trips with smaller ships
Palmer GWR completed

OIC: LT Dean E. Fadden, population 21 (list and photos)

The comm center in 1970, a bit more brightly lit
than it is nowadays (caption/info)
(courtesy Billy-Ace Baker)

First (and only) midwinter refueling of McM nuclear plant
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) formed (10/3)

The Federal reorganization of environmental and physical research
agencies had been proposed to Congress in July. One concept had
included the Coast Guard, but they were left out of the final plan.
In any case, NOAA soon consolidated and expanded its research pre-
sence in and around Antarctica.

At left, an observer with ESSA (one of the major agencies consolida-
ted into NOAA) is operating a Dobson spectrophotometer in the Dobson
hut (undated NSF photo from around 1969-70). This device (which was
invented by the British meteorologist G.M.B. Dobson in the 1920s)
determines the amount of ozone in the atmosphere by measuring the
absorption by ozone of UV light from the sun or moon.


Air Force C-133 CargoMaster, largest aircraft to land in Antarctica to date,
   makes first flight to McMurdo (10/21)

Opening flight (10/31) is also medevac for ill Navy w/o
First of many visits by Dr. Harold Muchmore and team to take nose samples etc.
New station construction started (barely) with preliminary site prep and 
   surveys

Here's one of those famous or infamous Peter
Snow Millers hard at work during the 1970-71
summer...this one seems to be doing well here,
but they really couldn't handle the Pole alti-
tude and snow conditions. (photo from Gary
Brougham)

Top hats (high roofs to replace crushing snow load) installed on two buildings.
   old power plant turned into rec building/gym, tunnel shoring added

Construction of a top hat is underway, this is
 the USARP barracks, we are looking southeast,
the balloon inflation shelter is in the back-
ground behind the construction, and the aurora
tower is at left. This photograph illustrates
that the station is not THAT deeply buried, note
the snow levels behind the construction area.
(Navy photo, AJ 5/71)

Pegasus (C-121J) crashes at McM (10/8) with no injuries

This was last season of these Super Constel-
lation aircraft on the ice (photos and crash
story by Noel Gillespie on Dave Riley's web
site). Photo from Larry Lister

Siple antenna extension to 13 miles partially completed
McM construction: Building 165 (Admin) and 175 (originally Public Works, just
   below heavy shop) occupied, incinerator pad prepared, first copper-nickel
   flash evaporator installed to supplant corroding carbon-steel desal units
Coast Guard HH-52A helicopter crashes at 12,000 feet on the northwest side of
   Mt. Erebus (1/9)

There were 4 souls on board, two crew and two
pax including writer Charles Neider, who docu-
mented the events (sort of) in his book Edge of
the World, Ross Island, Antarctica. The desti-
nation was Cape Bird, but they never made it.
There were no serious injuries despite a repor-
ted lack of ECW gear. This photo is from, well,
let's just say a Polie friend who happened to
be there. Here's the story and more photos.


The "Pederson South Pole Expedition" shows up in ChCh in mid-January with a
   Connie loaded with snowmobiles for a planned McM-Pole trek. to recover
   Max Conrad's aircraft. They don't get clearance, and it doesn't happen,
but they plan to try again (full story)
Byrd Longwire closed (12/29) after a month of VLF studies by Irene Peden,
   the first USARP female to spend time at an inland station; modules and
   antenna are shipped to McM for rehab for Siple
BFC dedicated for Tom Berg (geologist killed in a field helo accident 11/69)
First LC-130 accident (2/15), 318 is destroyed by fire on takeoff from Willy

"The third plane lost during Deep Freeze 71 was
an LC-130F, BUNO 148318 on Febuary 15,1971. The
Hercules was taxiing on the skiway at Williams
Field for a flight to Christchurch. It taxied 
around the GCA...in poor visibility, and the
left main ski went up over a 5 1/2 foot snow bank.
The right wing hit the ground and broke between
the two engines.A fire, feed by fuel and fanned
by high winds destroyed the aircraft (VXE-6,
1971)" (from "United States Aircraft Losses in 
                                Antarctica"). Photo by Don Leger

OIC: LTJG Kevin Gallen, population 21 (list and photo)
USARP barracks rehabbed
Former power plant converted to gym/recreation area
W/O science (typical for this era): gravity/seismo (UCLA); met (NOAA), geomag/
   seismo (NOAA), ionospheric studies (NOAA), cosray (Bartol)
CBU-201 (the Navy Seabee unit responsible for major Antarctic construction tasks)
   disestablished (5/7); to be replaced by units of NMCB-71
"Holy Stairs" vestibule, the final/present main entrance, constructed, with a
   balcony, the marble plaque and Scott's and Amundsen's portraits

The main entrance to South Pole Station as it
appeared during the 1971-72 season. It was
nicknamed the "Holy Stairs" perhaps because
of all of the signs and flags mounted on it...
but I've never learned the real reason for the
name. (Bob Nyden photo)

John Rand shows up with CRREL team for major drilling project, failure at 10'

Some things seem to look the same, but the 
original runway was on the far side of the
old IGY station. Here we are looking north-
west, Old Pole is behind us, and further
behind us is the new skiway and the new sta-
tion construction (photo by GCA guy Ron May
who slept in that radome...)

Site prep for the dome completed; utilidor 80% done; dome foundation
   blocks and base ring constructed 
First round-the-world via the poles solo flight by Elgen Long passes over Pole
   (11/21) enroute from PA to McM in a twin-engine Piper Navajo. This flight 
   was officially sanctioned; a LC-130 aircraft had been positioned at Pole for
   potential escort or search duty if the weather turned bad
T-5 dismantled at McM, shipped to Pole and erected for construction camp garage
Finn Ronne and wife show up briefly to mark 60th anniversary of Amundsen's
   and Scott's arrival (12/7)

Finn and Edith "Jackie" Ronne were the first
married couple to visit Pole together, and
Jackie was probably the eighth woman to stand
at the Pole. This photo shows them presenting
two commemorative color prints to the station...
(more details and credit)

First female to stay overnight--Chicago Tribune reporter Louise Hutchinson (12/7),
   who was covering the 60th anniversary commemoration, was stranded due to flight
   and weather delays 
LC-130 #321 crashes at D59 (12/4), another JATO problem (Antarctic Journal
   article) (full story)
Original Stanford UGO shipped from Byrd, set up at McM
Little Jeana vans moved to Brockton
Buried Byrd Station (the second one) closed (2/19); future support operations
   to be from "Byrd Surface Camp." Among many artifacts left behind is a black
   D-8 that came from LAV in 1957
Siple construction: arch completed and enclosed; 13-mile antenna completed
McM construction: fire station/phone exchange building occupied; transmitter
   building shell erected; new Williams Field berthing modules assembled, pad
   for sewage treatment plant prepared; incinerator completed and tested (the
   incinerator was abandoned as unusable/too small; the sewage plant never was
   built)
McM biolab (built in 1959) dedicated EBC (2/27) for Carl Eklund who died in 1962
Brockton closed for the last time (Feb)

OIC: William R. Talutis, population 22 (list and photo)
Top hat over the galley collapses requiring major winter excavation effort
March McM storm destroys 3 years of Elliott Quay pier facing
McM nuclear plant shut down 9/18 for leaks, would never be restarted

Construction camp for 130 men (the one that would burn in 10/76) built near
   new station

The then-new construction camp--the Last
Chance Saloon porch is on the right, Straight
ahead in the distance is the rising skeleton
of the Dome (photo from Bob Nyden) (here is
the rest of the story about the construction
camp).

Navy construction crew on site for new station: 102 men
Snow miller problems continue to slow new station foundation construction
Wheeled aircraft tests conducted on taxiway surface prepared by Peter snow miller
   (I guess the tests didn't work)
USGS sets up first Doppler satellite tracking geoceiver system; schedules first w/o's
50x12 foot structure for helium bottles constructed south of balloon inflation
   building; helium was being used for met balloons and Gill hydrogen generator
   was partially dismantled
917 crash-lands on new skiway in front of dome (1/28), no injuries and most cargo
   is salvaged, aircraft a total loss

This view of the crash scene was taken the day
afterward by Ralph Lewis, who was on the first
flight into Pole after the accident. Here are
more pictures including another view of the
wreckage a year later with more info. For many
more photos and the crash story, jump directly
to Joe Hawkins' 917 page...

Experimental Rodriguez well constructed under NCEL direction; placed in service
   after successful production of 1000 gallons per day (the concept had been
   developed by Army engineer Raul Rodriguez at Camp Century, Greenland in 1960-61)
Utilidor finished; dome erection completed (1/4) after assistance from Huck fastener
   tech rep; half of arches erected; building erection deferred
Byrd Surface Camp erected
Glomar Challenger discovers traces of hydrocarbons beneath the Ross Sea, stirring
   interest in mineral development
"International Square" (area with flags and Byrd bust) erected at McM
Other McM construction: B-75 (rehab for gym) completed 
DVDP (Dry Valley Drilling Project) does first drilling, test holes near McM
Hallett Station closed, had been used for summer penguin studies for many years
Siple Station (I) permanent structures completed and turned over (1/25), occupied

OIC: LT Fred Walcott, population 22 (list and photos)
Rodriguez well freezes up after DFA in boiler fuel line (no heat tape) congeals
Doctor Ron Swarsen conducts w/o study of fingernail ridge growth
First Siple winter (4 men); new transmitter sends first VLF signals from Siple 
   to Roberval, Quebec (5/12)
First McM midwinter airdrop, done by RNZAF P-3 Orion aircraft
First McM ice wharf constructed after major difficulties with previous "Elliot
Quay"

Removal of PM3A nuclear plant in McMurdo begins (10/9)
Bernt Balchen, Byrd's pilot on the 1929 Pole flight, dies at age 73
Major power problems at old station, 2 generators hard down for awhile
Navy (mostly) construction crew on site for new station: 146 men; H&N crew works
   on utilities in utilidor, fuel piping, and other utility systems
Zoller's air sampling hut arrives, is deployed upwind of the station (not far
   enough the first time, too much contamination from LC-130's)

The holy stairs in 73-74...this hero shot of the
European photographer Franz Lazi shows the best
detail I've seen of the memorabilia on the west
side (the stuff is now in the library/pool room).
Notice the door on the left side, there is a small
arrow pointing to the "entrance." Unfortunately 
that arrow wasn't there in 1976 and we wasted a
lot of time digging looking for the door. This
is from Lazi's 1980 book "Antarktis, Antarctica,
Antarctique."  He made several trips to the ice
in the 70's and at least 2 visits to Pole.

Parachute jump at Pole, on Christmas Eve by 4 members of VXE-6 pararescue team,
   from a true altitude of 12,800' (not the first)
NOAA/GMCC "clean air" project expanded, moved to top floors of aurora tower
NASA installs tracking equipment for proposed winter "Project Hawkeye" satellite 
   launch
First significant female science contingent, 2 biomed techs--Donna Muchmore (Dr. 
   Harold's wife) and Nan Scott from U of OK spend 2 weeks

Looking north at the supply tunnel in about
1974. Behind the tractors you can catch a 
glimpse of the RAWIN dome atop the galley
building, as well as the surface power plant.
(Antarctic Journal, March/April 1975, with 
help from Jeff Kietzmann)

Navy/civilian construction crew peaks at 146; utilidor and arch construction
   completed, last module delivered 12/15, most buildings shelled out. NMCB-71
   turns over station construction to NSF/H&N at the end of summer (2/7)
UC Davis group shows up for preliminary micrometeorology study--to provide design
   data for the future project at the domed station
H&N awarded support contract for Hero/Palmer operations
Penguin Power and Light (McM power plant) gets 2 more 500kw White diesels
   making 6 total (needed now that nuclear plant is dead)
Siple dipole antenna raised for the first time
DVDP does its first holes in the Dry Valleys
First AFRTS TV broadcast at McM (11/9)
McM snowcraft survival (Happy Camper) school gets first NZARP instructor,
   mountaineer Colin Monteath
Thiel Earth Sciences Lab (TESL) (present location of "F-stop") at McM named
   for Edward Thiel, killed in 1961 plane crash at Wilkes

OIC: LT Bob Braddock, population 21 (list and photo)
Stanford AWS tested; powered by 10-watt radioisotope generator after TEG fails
Scott's memorial cross on Ob Hill blown over by a major windstorm; repairs
   required for the first time (?) since its 1913 erection 
First female w/o's at McM; SSL Mary Alice McWhinnie and Mary Odile Cahoon
PICO established for future RISP and other ice drilling projects

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