Jeffrey Donenfeld

Tag: Antarctica-summer-12-13

Living and Working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica, Summer 2012-2013
During the Austral Summer of 2012-2013, I traveled to Antarctica to work as a Cook, EMT, Tour Guide, and Photojournalist at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. While I was living there, I took over 10,000 photos, hours of video footage, and published an article about life in Antarctica on my blog every single day. Here’s a brief wrapup of my time in Antarctica, with links to all of the content I produced.

A complete account of my experiences in Antarctica can be found at: https://JeffreyDonenfeld.com/Antarctica

Articles written while living at the South Pole, 2012-2013
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Antarctica Video Playlist

After flying DENver>San Francisco>Los Angeles, I flew on an Airbus A380 from Los Angeles USA to Sydney Australia. Then I flew on a Boeing 777-300ER from Sydney Australia to Christchurch New Zealand.

Outside the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand. This is the New Zealand office location of the United States Antarctic Program, and serves as the departure point to the main US Stations – McMurdo and Amundsen-Scott.

At the Clothing Distrubution Center at the International Antarctic Centre, we receive our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) Gear. We’re given a few minutes to try everything on for size.

The US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, which I flew from Christchurch, New Zealand to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. This military jet can fly both people and supplies.

Abord the C17 flying Christchurch>McMurdo. People sit in conventional airplane seats, as well as on webbing seats along the walls. Additionally, my flight was carrying pallets of scientific equiptment and machinery.

Flying over Antarctica, with the tips of huge mountains poking out from beneath the polar ice cap.

Upon landing at McMurdo, I’m shuttled to the station by this giant bus. I only stay at McMurdo for one night, before getting back on a flight to the South Pole.

Inside the shuttle facility at McMurdo Station. Everybody who is going to South Pole must tag their bags accordingly, so that bags are correctly routed when “Bag Drag” happens – the loading of everybody’s luggage into the luggage facility.

The LC-130 Hercules, which I flew from McMurdo Station to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. This plane is much smaller, and is one of only about 10 “LC” models equipped with both skiis and wheels for landing gear. The plane can take off on wheels from a traditional runway, and land on skis on an ice runway.

Inside the “herc”, everybody sits along the wall, with bags and equiptment in the middle and in back. The airplane is loud, and earplugs are passed out at the start of the flight.

Once airborne, free roaming around the airplane’s cargo bay is allowed. The view out the window, passing over the Transantarctic mountains, is beautiful.

Finally, arrived at the South Pole. On the day I arrived, the temperature was -40 degrees – that first breath of air was cold!

Arrived at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica. The geographic pole is about 200 meters away from this sign.

The mirrored ball at the Ceremonial South Pole. This pole is only used for ceremonial purposes, and does not mark anything.

Ceremonial South Pole, with my United States Antarctic Program – issued ECW Jacket. It has a patch with my name on it, and a USAP logo patch.

Slicing meat in the Kitchen. One of my jobs on station was as the lead breakfast cook, and assistant lunch cook.

My daily breakfast spread, consisting of eggs, potatoes, bacon, an entree, french toast, yogurt, cut fruit, granola, oatmeal, and pasteries. I made this breakfast 6 mornings/week for all 170 people at the station.

The galley, where the station crew eats. The TV’s on the cieling show the “galley scroll” info, such as weather, flight schedule, social events, and internet access times.

The post office at the south pole station is the world’s southern-most post office. Normal US mail rates apply.

The southern most post office in the world, as well as our general store. Here, we could buy apparrel, souvineers, toiletries, and rent DVD movies.

The greenhouse is not used in the summer, however in the winter it’s used to grow fresh food for the station staff to eat.

Beneath the elevated station, there’s a labrynth of storage, supply, and utility spaces. This includes the Ice Tunnels, Storage Arch, Fuel Arch, and Vehicle Maintenance Facility. This is the entrance to the under-ice utility corridors, at the base of the “Beer Can”. the structure connecting the elevated station to the utility spaces.

Inside the ice tunnels, which route water, sewage and electrical lines. 50 feet under the ice, the temperature here is a constant -60 degrees F.

A utility technician taking readings on one of the massive engines which make the station’s power and heat. The station burns 600,000 gallons of AN8 jet fuel yearly to keep everything powered up and warm.

The South Pole Telescope, which is able to look at the Cosmic Microwave Background, a remanant of the Big Bang.

Working with the KECK Array science team on maintaining the receivers that make up the telescope.

The heart of one of the receivers of the KECK Array, the niobium framed focal planes. These get cooled down to around 250 milikelvin.

Liquid helium escaping an overflow valve, while air condenses instantly into a liquid.

Outside of the Ice Cube Laboratory, the Askaryan Radio Array team sets up their workshop.

Twin Otters are frequently used by science teams for accessing remote field camps.

The roof of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atmospheric Research Observatory, where the cleanest air in the world is sampled.

A luau under an airdrop parachute in front of the station. This was on the last day of 2012.

A concert on new years eve in the gym. New years eve at the south pole included multiple performances, drinks, and lots of dancing.

Running the South Pole Marathon. 26.3 miles in -20F temperatures. I ran it in 05:41.

To run outside, full head protection must be worn, including a gaiter and goggles.

Since the south pole station is on a moving sheet of ice, the location of the marker planted in the moving ice drifts by about 10 meters per year. Every years on new years day, the Geographic South Pole Marker is re-planted at the true pole of the earth, and a new metal marker is revealed. In this ceremony, the station staff are symbolically passing the American Flag from the 2012 marker location to the new 2013 marker location.

Toursts visit the south pole too. Although they are allowed in the elevated station for brief tours, they are restricted to camping out in the “NGO Camp” about a half mile away from the station. Adventure Network International runs the tourist camp.

Tourists visiting the south pole. Most tourists arrive on airplanes, such as this DC-3 Basler turboprop. Other groups of tourists ski in, covering the last degree or two degrees of lattitude.

The south pole station hosts many guests throughout the season. Here, I’m pictured with NASA Astronaut and UTMB Medical Director Dr. Scott Parazinski on my right. On my left is former NASA ISS Lead Flight Surgeon and South Pole Lead Physician Dr. Sean Roden.

Skiier Vlborg Arna Gissurard

The Golf Ball, which houses the GOES and Skynet satellite uplinks. These links provide voice and data access to the station.

The GOES-3 Satellite dish, which is our main communications link to the outside world.

The medical clinic, which features a full trauma bay, dental bay, medical laboratory, exam room, and two ward beds.

As a certified W-EMT, I was a member of the station’s emergency response team. Here, we’re triaging patients during a Mass Casualty Incident training exercise.

On the Pegasus Ice Runway, with Ivan The Terrabus ready to transport people from the ice runway back to McMurdo Station.

On top of Observation Hill, high above McMurdo Station. McMurdo is much much bigger than South Pole Station, and is situated on Ross Island, on the actual ground. South Pole Station is built on top of the polar ice cap.

The Maersk Peary tanker ship, which supplies McMurdo with fuel for the winter season.

Finally leaving the ice on an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III. Read more about my experiences in Antarctica at https://JeffreyDonenfeld.com/Antarctica and contact me at Jeffrey@JeffreyDonenfeld.com .

Since I’ve started blogging about Antarctica, I’ve received a number of questions from readers. To address as many of those questions as possible, I’ve made a long FAQ document. Frequently Asked Questions about Antarctica.

My Job in Antarctica

During my time in Antarctica, I lived at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The station is American-run, but supports scientists from all over the world. For a bit more on the specifics of the station, check out the Wikipedia Article.

The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is an American scientific research station at the Geographic South Pole, the southernmost place on the Earth. The station is located on the high plateau of Antarctica at an elevation of 2,835 meters (9301 feet) above sea level.

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Since the Amundsen-Scott Station is located at the South Pole, it is at the only place on the land surface of the Earth where the sun is continuously up for six months and then continuously down for six months. (The only other such place is at the North Pole, on the sea ice in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.) Thus, during each year, this station experiences one extremely long “day” and one extremely long “night”. During the six-month “day”, the angle of elevation of the Sun above the horizon varies continuously. The sun rises on the September equinox, reaches its maximum angle above the horizon on the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, around 20 December, and sets on the March equinox.

During the six-month “night”, it gets extremely cold at the South Pole, with air temperatures sometimes dropping below ?73 °C (?100 °F). This is also the time of the year when blizzards, sometimes with gale-force winds, strike the Amundsen-Scott Station. The continuous period of darkness and dry atmosphere make the station an excellent place from which to make astronomical observations.
The number of scientific researchers and members of the support staff housed at the Amundsen-Scott Station has always varied seasonally, with a peak population of about 200 in the summer operational season from October to February. In recent years the wintertime population has been around 50 people.

I was hired to work as a cook at the south pole station. My primary job was as the breakfast cook, and my direct employer was Gan-A-Yoo Services, which is a subcontractor under Lockheed Martin’s Antarctic Support Contract. I got up at 3am 6 mornings per week to single handedly cook breakfast for the entire station staff. For more info on my kitchen job, see my article: Working In The South Pole Kitchen.

I also worked as an emergency medical responder on the station’s “Team 4”, which was in charge of emergency medical response. I worked alongside the fire crew, our nurse, and the station’s lead physician Dr. Sean Roden. More: Team 4 – Emergency Medical Response.

Next, I was one of three station tour guides. When tourist groups would arrive at pole via flight or skis, I got to give them a brief tour around the station. More: Tourists At The South Pole and Welcoming Skiers To The South Pole.

And finally, I spent whatever free time I had acting as the station correspondent for the United States Antarctic Program’s Antarctic Sun Newspaper. Throughout the summer, I wrote a series of single-topic articles, as well as monthly station summaries, which were published on the USAP’s site. Articles published in the Antarctic Sun.

Traveling to and from Antarctica:

Although long, the journey to and from the south pole was incredible in itself. I flew via commercial air from Denver Colorado > San Francisco California, San Francisco California > Los Angeles California, Los Angeles California > Sydney Australia, Sydney Australia > Christchurch New Zealand. Then on US Air Force Operation Deep Freeze military flights from Christchurch New Zealand > McMurdo Station Antarctica and McMurdo Station Antarctica > South Pole Station Antarctica. The entire journey took a solid three days of travel, but was a spectacular tour. Articles on traveling to and from Antarctica:
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Facilities at the South Pole Station

Living at a frozen polar station is interesting – super interesting. The entire station is suspended above the ice by pylons, and includes everything we need to survive. In addition to the elevated station, there’s also a labrynth of support corridors and arches buried deep under the ice. I documented as much of the station as I could. First, be sure to watch my South Pole Station Tour Video on YouTube. Additionally, below are links to my writeups on each part of the station.

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- Ice Tunnels 1 and Ice Tunnels 2
- Roof
- Climbing Wall
- Post Office
- The Slump
- Wintershop
- Summercamp
- Power Plant
- Fuel Supply
- Comms Office
- Plumbing Shop
- Destination Alpha
- My Bedroom
- Supply Arch
- Sauna
- Workout Room
- Quiet Reading Room
- Laundry Room
- Gymnasium
- Computer Lab
- B1 Lounge
- Golf Ball
- Band Practice
- HAM Radio Shack
- Medical Clinic
- Greenhouse
- Emergency Pod
- Kitchen
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Science at the South Pole

The primary goal for the South Pole Station is to support scientific research and exploration. There are an incredible amount of world-class science experiments going on there, and since I lived on station, I had the opportunity to explore almost all of them. Living and working with scientists every day led to a continous stream of once-in-a-lifetime conversations about their work, science in general, the universe, etc. Additionally, I spent much of my free time actually helping out a couple of the experiments. Notably, I spent a good amount of time in the field building the drilling rig for the Askaryan Radio Array, and helping out with drilling operations. Check out my time working with ARA. Here’s a collection of content about the science going on at South Pole:
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South Pole Life

Life at the South Pole is unique, but we still try to keep a bit of a normal life there. This includes celebrating holidays, lots of fun and games, and exploring the unique place we’re in. Notably, I had the opportunity to run the South Pole Marathon while I was there. More about life at the south pole:
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Other Content

Stuff that doesn’t fit anywhere else, but is still interesting.
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McMurdo Station

Although I didn’t live at McMurdo Station, I did spend a few days there in transit. During my time at McMurdo, I did a bunch of exploring.
- Exploring McMurdo Station
- Back to McMurdo
Getting a Job in Antarctica

On getting a job in Antarctica: Getting my job was hard. Very hard. It took over 4 years of constant research, training, networking, and organizing – and in the end, my job offer came just days before I departed. Definitely a hurculean effort – but after everything, I can truly say that it was absolutely worth the dedication and struggle. Working in Antarctica has been (and hopefully will continue to be) an incredible, life changing experience. If you stay dedicated to it, and make it happen for yourself, it will be an amazing voyage.
- How I got my job in Antarctica: Getting A Job In Antarctica: My Long Journey 2009-2012
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Other resources, see Bill Spindler’s Wrapup on Antarctic jobs and Jobs in Antarctica from CoolAntarctica.com
- If you’re not looking to put in the required effort to land an actual job there, you still have options on getting to the ice. I’d highly recommend looking at Adventure Network International. They run a couple very high quality tours to Antarctica, both to the coast as well as to the South Pole. During my time working at the south pole station, I had the opportunity to give station tours to a bunch of the ALE groups, as well as hang out at their camp. Writeups on tourists and tourism at the south pole:
Media:

During my time on the ice, I took over 10,000 photos, and shot hours of video. I shot on three main cameras: My Canon 5Dmk2 w/ EF 24-70 f/2.9L lens, Sony RX100, and Apple iPhone5.
- All Photos, on Flickr – about 700 photos
- Essential Slide Show – 120 photos
- All videos, on YouTube
- Station tour Video
- Interactive Panoramas
- A brief audio recording on my thoughts on Antarctica…
  https://www.jeffreydonenfeld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Jeffrey%20Donenfeld%20on%20Antarctica.m4a
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any other questions!
2013-03-06
A Tour of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica

After living and working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station during the summer 2012-2013 season, I’ve had the chance to see most parts of the station. Additionally, I also worked as a tour guide for the various tourist groups who visited the station. Here’s a brief narrated video tour of both the elevated station as well as the buried service structures. Shot on the Sony RX100.

For more on my time in Antarctica, be sure to see my Antartica Blog.

Be sure to check out my tour of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp.

2013-03-02
Panoramas From The South Pole

During my time working at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, I used my iPhone5 and the 360 Panorama App to take a number of interactive panoramas of various spaces at the station. Here they are..

View all of my 360 Panoramas

Outside the station

(more…)

2013-02-26
Departing Antarctica: McMurdo to Christchurch

And finally, my last flight off the ice, aboard a C-17, from McMurdo Station, Antarctica to Christchurch, New Zealand.

2013-02-25
Back to McMurdo

McMurdo Station. After living at South Pole, it was a bit of a shock to arrive in big bad McMurdo – Lots of people, dirt, dust, buildings, terrain, machines.. everything. Major overload after the pole, but a good introduction back into “society”, in preparation for reemergence back to New Zealand. I arrived at McMurdo the afternoon of Feb 12, and departed the afternoon of Feb 13 – a solid 24 hours in McMurdo. Here’s how it went down:

Arriving in mac town, fresh off Ivan The Terrabus

Looking over Scott Base

Scott Base

As soon as I had dropped my bag in my assigned dorm room, I immediately started the 45 minute hike across the island to New Zealand

After that, I hitched a ride back to McMurdo, took a quick 15 minutes for dinner, and then headed out with a few friends on an 8 mile hike to Castle Rock.

On our way up to Castle Rock

These emergency pods,

Ascending castle rock via fixed ropes.

South Pole Cook Aaron Benton

We arrived back in McMurdo around 12:30, just in time for

And finally, since it was the end of the season, the tanker ship Maersk Peary was in port that week, offloading winter fuel. I went with Polies Keith and Lily Fouts on a quick tour of the ship, lead by the ships engine mechanic.

2013-02-24
Leaving the South Pole Station for McMurdo Station

Summer has ended at the South Pole Station, and now the main summer crew is transiting through McMurdo, off the ice. My final day on station was Feb 12th. On that day, I packed up my bags, got on an LC-130 Hercules, and flew from pole to mcmurdo. As much as I was excited to be leaving for warmer climates, overall I was sad to be leaving pole – my friends there, the way of life, the general feeling of being there is truly unique and amazing, and something to be missed.

The herc to take us away, on the skiway. I noticed that as the temperature dropped, the cloud of kicked up snow and ice behind the hercs grew. On the day I left, it was about -47C.

Departing the station for the last time.. this season..

About to board

Goodbye pole! That

During the flight over the continent, I had the opportunity to sit in the cockpit for a bit. The view is absolutely incredible, unmatched.

Landing in McMurdo on the Pegasus Ice Runway

The first view stepping off at McMurdo: Mt. Erebus looming in the distance.

Pegasus is about an hour

And then, we are in McMurdo!

Images on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/albums/72157632822597095

2013-02-23
Working in the South Pole Kitchen
Alrighty, the south pole kitchen. My official place of employment at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The reason they were paying me to be there. I also did a number of other jobs at the south pole – EMT, Tour Guide, Reporter, Research Assistant – but my main job was as the lone breakfast cook.

I’ve previously posted a bit about my role in the kitchen on my FAQ post, and I’ll re-post it here, in addition to a bunch of new photos of the kitchen.

Since I’m the breakfast cook, I singlehandedly make breakfast for 160+ people, every morning, 6 days a week. My usual breakfast consists of a number of dishes:
- Scrambled Eggs
- Scrambled Eggs w/ ingredient
- Potatoes – hash browns, potato cubes, tater tots, hashbrown patties, etc.
- Meat – Sausage links, sausage patties, bacon, canadian bacon
- 2nd Option – Varies, mostly whatever I want. In the past I’ve made huevos rancheros, migas, biscuits n gravy, bread pudding, breakfast bake, baked eggs, quiche, casseroles, etc etc etc – there’s intense pressure from upper management for me to make something new every morning, so I’m always racing to think up something new and tasty.
- Sweet – french toast, pancakes, waffles, w/ syrup
- Yogurt – made from scratch
- Berries
- Fruit
- Granola
- Cereal – oatmeal, 7-grain, grits
- Smoothie – fruit smoothie, frappuccino, horchata, chai
And after I’m done making all of this in the 2 hours before breakfast service starts, I stand at the griddle and make eggs to order while breakfast is served. I usually make about 90-100 eggs per morning, usually over easy, over medium, scrambled, sunny, or “in a frame” (name chosen by Liz :) ).

While I’m doing all of this, I also have to be prepping for the next morning’s meal. I get to work at 03:30 and start cooking. Breakfast service is from 06:00-08:00. And then I have to be done with all of my breakfast cleanup, as well as complete prep for the next morning by 09:00. I take my first break from 09:00 – 09:30, and then I come back and work with the lunch lady to make lunch for everybody. I get out of work at 13:30, and then usually try to get to sleep around 20:00, so I can wake up at 03:00 the next morning and do it all over again.

A few photos of the south pole kitchen, and my breakfast setup:

Front of the kitchen. Here you can see my prep counter on the right, and the serving line on the left.

Back of the kitchen, with ovens, range, fryer, steam kettle, tilt skillet.

Inside one of the walk in’s, I had my own breakfast rack, where I stored my prepped food.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8491950088/in/photostream

The flattop griddle. This is where I made all of the eggs, pancakes, etc. Here in this pic, you can see that I’ve made a “levee” out of chopped peppers, onions, beans, and corn which prevents the eggs from running off the edge while they cook. Eventually I mix it all together. Egg-engineering. I was like and “egg-gineer”. Yeah. Oh, and there’s one twins egg in the second pic. You can also see that this pic was taken fairly early in the season, because there are two bowls of fresh fruit out on the line.

My breakfast line, a few views with all of my breakfast food setup. I made all of this singlehandedly every morning.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8491953568/in/photostream

And we even had a deli slicer. Good for slicing corned beef, evening out shoes and furniture, and feeding noisy cats. And that’s my snazzy Antarctica 59fifty new era hat.

The entrance to the Galley

Heather our baker makes all sorts of tasty sweets such as her bark medley

One of two most hotly debated items – the ice cream freezer. This freezer actually broke early in the season, and so to keep order and peace around the station, we stored the ice cream outside on the deck, and brought it inside for brief periods during meals. The other item that was most likely to cause riots if/when it breaks is the coffee machine.
2013-02-22
The South Pole Emergency Lifeboat

During the summer at the south pole, there are regular airplane flights, skiier expeditions, and all sorts of transportation to and from the station. If an emergency happens, it’s relatively easy to escape from the station.

However, during the very very cold winter months, when it’s dark out 24/7, there is absolutely no way to get away from the station – no flights, no skiiers, no traverse. So if something happens – such as a fire, massive power failure, or the like, the crew is stuck there, and must deal with it on their own.

For this reason, in the B1 pod of the station, there exists the emergency lifeboat. Essentially, the B1 pod is equipped to be able to act as a completely self sustained unit, able to provide the 50 winteover crewmember complete food, power, fuel, and living support. If something were to happen to the rest of the station – say, a fire burns it away, the crew would be able to take refute in the lifeboat and wait out the rest of winter until a rescue is possible.

A few weeks ago, winterover site manager Weeks Heist took me on a personal tour of the unique features of the lifeboat. A few pics of the notable areas:

The entrance to the B1 pod. Looks like a normal door and wall – but it’s actually a 3 hour rated firewall. The rest of the station is skinned in dry plywood and paneling, so it’s thought that if there was a catastophic fire, the rest of the station would burn away and burn itself out before the fire gets through the firewall.

Looking inside the entrance door, you can see not only a normal door, but also a massive insulated freezer door. In the event of an emergency, this door can be closed to seal off the unit from the rest of the station.

Reverse angle
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8490844227/in/photostream

The main living area inside B1, complete with fooseball, darts, billiards, and a bar.

The emergency kitchen.

On the bottom floor of the lifeboat is the emergency power and water treatment plant. This facility can power the entire pod. It’s also linked in with the power grid for the rest of the station, so its power can be routed to power any other part of the station – including remote science experiments, if the power routing infrastructure remains intact.

Outside the pod, in preparation for winter, sits an emergency fuel tank, and emergency pumphouse.

Downstairs, the door to the powerplant.

2013-02-21
Lane Patterson Starts Up The South Pole Greenhouse for Winter 2013

Although it wasn’t used during my summer season, the South Pole Station does have its very own spaceage greenhouse. In preparation for the upcoming Winter season, scientists Lane Patterson arrived on station shortly before the winter closure to get things started. Lane will be running the Greenhouse all winter, which ideally will produce about 25lbs of produce per week.

Lane providing nutrients to the sprouting seeds…

The beginnings of the South Pole Station’s winter freshies…
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8489942513/in/photostream

2013-02-20
The South Pole Medical Clinic
One of my jobs at the South Pole Station this year was on Team 4, the emergency medical response team. As part of working on that team, I got to spend a good amount of time inside the station’s medical clinic, managed by Lead Physician Dr. Sean Roden and Nurse Practicioner Cassie Spruill. Given its location, the medical clinic is very very well equipped to handle almost any type of medical emegency. A bit of the capabilities and equiptment includes:
- Broken bones
- Cardiac monitoring
- Trauma
- Medical issues
- Ultrasound
- Xray
- General Dentistry
- Long term patient care
- Blood lab work
- Physical therapy
- Etc..
A few pics of the clinic:

The clinic also has its own independent data uplink, for both voice and data. Remote doctors can even be teleconfrenced in to guide live surgery.

Two ward beds, for longer term patient care.

The medical lab
2013-02-19
The HAM Radio Shack – Talking To The World From KC4AAA At The South Pole

Buried deep within the B1 Emergency Pod at the Amundsen Scott South Pole Station is the emergency communications booth – inside, there is a complete set of backup comms equiptment, capable of operating completely independently from the rest of the station in the event of a catastrophic loss. In addition to backup gear, there is also the primary HAM radio set. The HAM radio, or HF radio, is used openly to talk with stations around the world. This season, it was operated by Boyd Brown, a seasoned polie. During a few Sunday mornings, I had the opportunity to sit in the shack with Boyd and talk on the radio with people from around the world, as well as all over Antarctica. Notably, I had a good conversation with the radio operator at Antarctica’s Palmer Station.

The South Pole Station’s callsign is KC4AAA, and mostly transmits on the 20 meter band at 14.243MHz. Here’s Boyd in the shack:

2013-02-18
Band Practice at the South Pole

Yep, we even have a fully equipped music room at the south pole station. Here’s a pic of the room, in and ouf of use. ‘

2013-02-17
More Pics of the South Pole Lorentz Invariance Test

A few weeks ago, I wrote a brief overview of the South Pole Lorentz Invariance Test in the Antarctic Sun:

A new experiment was installed last month in the station’s Cryogenics Lab, which is being repurposed because there is no longer a need for liquid helium to the super cool the sensors used for certain telescopes.

The installation of the South Pole Lorentz Invariance Test (SPLIT) is being overseen by Princeton University post-doc Marc Smiciklas for principal investigator Michael Romalis .

SPLIT aims to detect violations in Lorentz Symmetry by measuring the spin of individual atoms of neon inside its bell-jar-enclosed co-magnetometer. Lorentz Symmetry is the fundamental symmetry of the standard model of particle physics, as well as general relativity, which describes gravity.

A violation in this symmetry would suggest that there’s a new element to physics which falls outside of what the current standard model can predict.

The SPLIT apparatus arrived in January. One of the main tasks involved alignment of the sensitive laser optics. Smiciklas will work with research associate Andrew Vernaza on developing comprehensive maintenance, testing and operating procedures for the winter.

Here are a few more pics of the apparatus:

2013-02-16
Snowmobile Training

Although we all live primarily at the elevated portion of the south pole station, there are a number of other structures in the surrounding areas. Most are within walking distance, but to get there with a bit more speed, we use snowmobiles. Anybody on station is allowed to drive a snowmobile, but first they must undergo a brief training on operating the machines. Here’s engineer Flint Hamblin explaining how to use one of the older “Alpines”..

2013-02-15
Team 4 – Emergency Medical Response

Among my many jobs at the South Pole Station, one of them is as an Emergency Medical Responder on “Team 4” – I’m a certified Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician. If any kind of emergency happens on station, it’s our job to take care of any medical or trauma patients. Additionally, I acted as one of the team trainers – during our weekly meetings, I went over skills such as Patient Assessment and Extrication as a skills brush-up for the team. Additionally, I had the opportunity to work hand in hand with the south pole’s fire crew. Here’s a quick pic from during one of our “MCI” drills. We’ve just transported a number of patients from the LO arch – where the “incident” was simulated to have taken place, to the medical clinic, and are now in the middle of triaging patients. Note that this was just a drill, no real patients were involved or put at risk by me pausing to take a pic.

2013-02-14
Tourists at the South Pole

Despite its remoteness, the South Pole has a lot of visitors every year. Of course, the main human presence at the pole is the United States Antarctic Program – with whom I worked this past 2012-2013 summer season. The USAP has about 150 people living at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, in addition to a number of scientists transiting through on their way to various field camps and outposts.

However, in addition to people associated with USAP, there are also a number of tourists and expedition groups that make it to the pole. The area that the South Pole Station occupies is restrticed space, and operates on a special Antarctic Treaty permit. However, as far as I’ve heard, the area around the station is more or less open territory. Additionally, the south pole skiway, which is used for landing Hercs for the USAP, is a free and open runway for anybody to land on.

Tourists come to the south pole via all modes of transportation, however most come by either plane or ski. ANI runs most of the tourist expeditions, although a few independent groups also make it to pole. During my time living at the south pole station, I had the opportunity to work as one of three station tour guides. When groups would arrive at the pole and request a tour of the station, I would meet the group outside the station and bring them in for a quick 1 hour tour. During my tourguiding, it was very interesting talking to the various groups, and hearing their own stories about getting to the pole. Additionally, during my tour, each group seemed to pick up on a different aspect of the station – be it recreation, science, the location, temperature, life on the station, transportation, my specific job, or whatever.

For more on ANI’s camp at the south pole, check out my blog post on that: Adventure Network International Sets Up Camp At The South Pole

Notable expeditioners who I gave a tour of the station to this year include: Aaron Linsdau, Vilborg Arna Gissurardóttir, Geoff Somers (Bill Spindler’s writeup on Mr. Sommers), and ANI Field Operations Manager Steve Jones.

A few pics of tourists checking out the South Pole..

Tourists arrive on either a Twin Otter or Basler (DC-3)

Everybody gets their picture taken at both the Geographic South Pole as well as the Ceremonial South Pole.

During peak tourist season in the middle of the summer, we had multiple groups per day…

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8412801840/in/set-72157632798638677/

Russian ski expedition group.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8412801454/in/set-72157632798638677/

Tourists who come into the station are permitted to visit the Post Office and stamp their passports with the South Pole Station stamp.

2013-02-13
The South Pole’s Satellite Communications Link: The Golf Ball

The south pole station is remote – very remote. All communications has to happen via some sort of radio link, and the main links for general data and voice from the station is on one of 4 satellite networks – GOES, TDRS, SKYNET, or Iridium. GOES is by far the oldest data link, and uses a very large satellite dish to connect the station to the GOES-3 satellite as is passes southward in its degraded orbit. The GOES-3 satellite orbit is degraded, meaning that it wobbles from the equator both north and south. During the southern part of its daily (daily as in sidereal) orbit, the satellite passes just barely in view of the station – which means that it’s just barely on the horizon. A few days ago, satellite comms specialist Cheryl Seagraves took me on a special tour of the GOES satellite uplink facility.

The whole satcom facility, with networking building, GOES golf ball, and TDRS golf ball. Also housed within the larger GOES golf ball is the experimental Skynet dish.

The GOES Golf Ball

Walking up the steps to enter the golf ball radome. Entrance to this facility is only possible when the transceiver is switched off.

Inside the radome, you can see the full GOES satellite dish. Note that it

2013-02-12
Published on the Antarctic Sun: Lost Airplane Ceremony Photo

One more photo published in the Antarctic Sun – a composite from our ceremony for the crew of the lost twin otter.

2013-02-11
Published on the Antarctic Sun: The South Pole Station January Update

Antarctic Sun South Pole Station January Update Jeffrey Donenfeld

Freshly posted on the NSF’s Antarctic Sun site, here’s my February South Pole Station Update, covering science and construction projects happening in the month of January, 2013 at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica. Cheers!

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station January Update (PDF)

2013-02-11
The B1 Lounge – Billiards and Foosball at the South Pole

We work hard here at the south pole – very hard, and in very harsh conditions. And to unwind after a long day, we appropriately have a wide range of activities and social centers. One of the main places to hang out at the station is in the B1 lounge, which also doubles as the community space for the B1 lifepod (more on that later). In the lounge, we have a pool table, fooseball table, darts, a sitting area, and an entire screening/gaming room, with an incredible selection of games, movies, and tv shows. A few pics..

The main lounge:

The screening room – a bit smaller than the B3 screening room, but with a direct view tv for gaming, rather than the projector in B3.

2013-02-10
The Computer Lab

Although I feel like the notion is antiquated at this point, we do have our own computer lab at the south pole station. In addition to computer terminals, we also have the IT office on the far side, and various office cubicles along the wall. If it were up to me, I’d have the computer terminals removed, and a large nice community table put in its place, with basic laptop rental (for those who don’t have their own with them here) and wifi available for free to everybody. Grab a laptop, setup at the community table, get your work done. More flexible, more social.

2013-02-09
The Gym at the South Pole

Incredibly, we even have an entire gym at the south pole station. This multi purpose room is used for event such as: volleyball, kung-fu lessons, salsa dancing, basketball, badmitton, ping pong, soccer, movie screenings, open mic nights, new years eve band performances, emergency response muster point, fire crew training drills, and just about everything else imaginable. It’s one of the few spots in the station where the entire crew can gather together comfortably.

2013-02-08
Stay Clean – Doing Laundry at the South Pole

We even have a laundry room here. The fairly normal facilities are heated with the same glycol that heats the rest of the station. Laundry machines are free, and each person is allowed one load of laundry per week. Given the amount of clothes I brought down here, 1 load/week seems to be more than enough to keep everything clean.

2013-02-07
The Quiet Reading Room

There are about 150 people living here at south pole, and we’re all right on top of each other at the station. Sometimes it’s nice to get away and have some quiet time – and to facilitate that, here’s our quiet reading room and library. This room is used as a library, piano recital studio, religious study room, and community discussion room – and it’s really quite nice.

2013-02-06