McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station sits on the southern tip of Ross Island in Antarctica, 2,200 miles (3,500 km) due south of New Zealand, and serves as the logistics hub for half the continent. All personnel and cargo going to or coming from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station first pass through McMurdo. Established in 1956, it is now reported to be Antarctica's largest community, and was the original site for British explorer Robert Falcon Scott. Scott's Hut is still standing and lies at the outer part of McMurdo, adjacent to the harbour at Hut Point.
Features include a harbour, 3 airfields (2 seasonal), a heliport and over 100 buildings. The primary focus of the work done here is science, but the summer residents (approximately 1,000 in the summer, shrinks to less than 200 in the winter) process the cargo brought in to support the field camps.
McMurdo Station is located approximately 3 miles away from New Zealand owned Scott Base.
Facilities at the station include:
- DASI telescope
- National Science Foundation Headquarters
- Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center (CSEC)
- Observation Hill
- Scott's Hut
- Williams Field airport
References
- Virtual Tour - McMurdo Station Antarctica (http://astro.uchicago.edu/cara/vtour/mcmurdo/)
- Raytheon Polar Services (http://www.polar.org/)
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