Everything about Mcmurdo Station totally explained
McMurdo Station is an
Antarctic research center located on the southern tip of
Ross Island on the shore of
McMurdo Sound,
2,200 miles (3,500 km) due south of
New Zealand. It is operated by the
United States through the
United States Antarctic Program, a branch of the
National Science Foundation. The station is the largest community in
Antarctica, capable of supporting up to 1,258 residents,) and serves as America's Antarctic science facility, and the logistics base for half the continent. All personnel and cargo going to or coming from
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station first pass through McMurdo.
History
The station owes its designation to nearby McMurdo Sound, named for Lieutenant
Archibald McMurdo of
HMS Terror, which first charted the area in 1841 under the command of British explorer
James Clark Ross. British explorer
Robert Falcon Scott first established a base close to this spot in 1902 and built
Discovery Hut, still standing adjacent to the harbour at Hut Point. The
volcanic rock of the site is the southern-most bare ground accessible by ship in the Antarctic ("Facts About the United States Antarctic Program"). The United States officially opened its first station at McMurdo on
February 16 1956. Founders initially called the station
Naval Air Facility McMurdo.
McMurdo became the center of scientific and logistical operations during the
International Geophysical Year, an international scientific effort that lasted from
July 1,
1957, to
December 31 1958. The
Antarctic Treaty, now signed by over 45 nations, regulates international relations with respect to Antarctica and governs the conduct of daily life at McMurdo for USAP participants. The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called
the Antarctic Treaty System or
ATS, was opened for signature on
December 1 1959, and officially entered into force on
June 23 1961.
McMurdo broke into the nuclear age on
March 3 1962, when operators activated a nuclear power plant at the station. The plant, like nearby Scott's Discovery Hut, was prefabricated in modules. Engineers designed the components to weigh no more than pounds each and to measure no more than 8 ft 8 inches by 8 ft 8 inches by 30 feet. The size restriction allowed, if necessary, shipment by the Hercules
LC-130 aircraft via an ice runway at the adjacent
Williams Field. A single core no larger than an oil
drum served as the heart of the
nuclear reactor. Reportedly, the reactor replaced the need for of
oil daily. Engineers applied the reactor's power, for instance, in producing steam for the salt water distillation plant. The U.S.
Army Nuclear Power Program decommissioned the plant in 1972.
moves a loaded cargo sled as part of resupply mission.]]
Contemporary function and history
Today, McMurdo Station is Antarctica's largest community and a functional, modern day science station, which includes a
harbor, 3 airfields (2 seasonal), a heliport and over 100 buildings, including the
Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center and a bowling alley with an antique Brunswick manual pinset machine. There is even a 9-hole
disc golf course on site. The primary focus of the work done at McMurdo Station is
science, but most of the residents (approximately 1,000 in the summer and fewer than 200 in the winter) are not scientists, but station personnel who are there to provide support for operations, logistics, information technology, construction, and maintenance.
Scientists and station personnel at McMurdo are participants in the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), which co-ordinates research and operational support in the region. Reports on the life and culture of McMurdo Station from the point of view of residents are rare.
An annual sealift by cargo ships as part of
Operation Deep Freeze delivers 8 million US gallons (6.6 million imperial gallons/42 million L) of fuel and 11 million pounds (5 million kg) of supplies and equipment for McMurdo residents. The ships are operated by the U.S.
Military Sealift Command and are crewed by civilian mariners. Cargo may range from mail, construction materials, trucks, tractors, dry and frozen food, to scientific instruments.
United States Coast Guard icebreakers break a ship channel through ice-clogged McMurdo Sound in order for supply ships to reach
Winter Quarters Bay at McMurdo. Additional supplies and personnel are flown in to nearby Williams Field from
Christchurch, New Zealand. A variety of fruits and vegetables are grown in a hydroponic green house at the station.
McMurdo Station is about 3 miles (5 km) from
Scott Base, the New Zealand science station, and the entire island is located within New Zealand's
Ross Dependency Antarctic claim. Recently there has been criticism leveled at the base regarding its construction projects, particularly the
McMurdo-South Pole highway.
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McMurdo has attempted to improve environmental management and waste removal over the past decade in order to adhere to the
Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, which was signed
4 October 1991 and entered into force
14 January 1998. This agreement prevents development and provides for the protection of the Antarctic environment through five specific annexes on marine pollution,
fauna, and
flora, environmental impact assessments, waste management, and protected areas. It prohibits all activities relating to mineral resources except scientific. Adhering to the Protocol, a new waste treatment facility was built at McMurdo in
2003. McMurdo (nicknamed "Mac-Town" by its residents) continues to operate as the hub for American activities on the Antarctic continent.
McMurdo, for a time, had Antarctica's only television station, AFAN-TV, running vintage programs provided by the military. The station's equipment was susceptible to "electronic burping" from the diesel generators that provide electricity in the outpost. The station was profiled in a 1974 article in TV Guide magazine. Now, McMurdo receives four channels by satellite through satellite receivers at
Black Island, away; the signals are relayed to McMurdo by digital microwave.
Like the Australian and New Zealand stations in the Antarctic, McMurdo Station has direct-in/direct-out telephone connections to the outside world, in this case functioning as part of the New Zealand telephone system. The Antarctic station is also home to the continent's only
ATM.
McMurdo Station briefly gained global notice when an anti-war protest was held on
February 15 2003. During the rally, about 50 scientists and station personnel gathered to protest the coming invasion of
Iraq by the United States. McMurdo Station was the only Antarctic location to hold such a rally.
In popular culture
McMurdo Station is referred to in the
science fiction movies
Dark Star and
Alien as being the site of a major space-traffic control center. McMurdo is mentioned in
John Carpenter's The Thing and in the American
adventure film Eight Below.
Much of
Kim Stanley Robinson's science fiction novel
Antarctica takes place at McMurdo Station.
In
Stargate SG-1 McMurdo is mentioned as a staging area for Earth's squadrons of
F-302 fighters. Also in the same series, from the station is the location of Earth's second
Stargate, left over from an Ancient site that was once the location of
Atlantis.
In
Matthew Reilly's novel
Ice Station McMurdo Ice Station is mentioned throughout the storyline.
The main character of the comic book
Whiteout (created by writer
Greg Rucka and artist
Steve Lieber), is named Carrie Stetko. She works as a U.S. Marshal at the McMurdo station.
McMurdo Station is featured in William Brinkley's novel,
The Last Ship.
Points of interest
Facilities worthy of note at the station include:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mcmurdo Station'.
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