McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand–claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is the largest community in Antarctica, capable of supporting up to 1,500 residents,[1][3] and serves as one of three year-round United States Antarctic science facilities. All personnel and cargo going to or coming from Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station first pass through McMurdo. McMurdo Station continues to operate as the hub for American activities on the Antarctic continent. By road, McMurdo is 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from New Zealand's smaller Scott Base.
McMurdo Station
Ross Island, Ross Dependency; claimed by New Zealand.
16 February 1956
10 m (30 ft)
1,000
153
AQ MCM
All year-round
Annual
Operational
- Aeronomy
- Astrophysics
- Biology
- Geophysics
- Glacial geology
- Ocean and climate systems
- A harbor
- Landing strips
- Helicopter pad
- Repair facilities
- Dormitories
- Administrative buildings
- Firehouse
- Power plant
- Water distillation plant
- Wharf
- Stores
- Clubs
- Warehouses
- Above-ground water, sewer, telephone, and power lines
- Chapel of the Snows Interfaith Chapel
- Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center
- More than 85 buildings
History[edit]
Name[edit]
The station takes its name from its geographic location on McMurdo Sound, named after Lieutenant Archibald McMurdo of British ship HMS Terror. The Terror, commanded by Northern Irish explorer Francis Crozier, along with expedition flagship Erebus under command of English Explorer James Clark Ross, first charted the area in 1841. The British explorer Robert Falcon Scott established a base camp close to this spot in 1902 and built a cabin there that was named Discovery Hut. It still stands as a historic monument near the water's edge on Hut Point at McMurdo Station. The volcanic rock of the site is the southernmost bare ground accessible by ship in the world. The United States officially opened its first station at McMurdo on February 16, 1956, as part of Operation Deep Freeze. The base, built by the U.S. Navy Seabees, was initially designated Naval Air Facility McMurdo. On November 28, 1957, Admiral George J. Dufek visited McMurdo with a U.S. congressional delegation for a change-of-command ceremony.[4]
International Geophysical Year[edit]
McMurdo Station was the center of United States logistical operations during the International Geophysical Year,[4] an international scientific effort that lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. After the IGY, it became the center for US scientific as well as logistical activities in Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty, subsequently signed by over forty-five governments, regulates intergovernmental relations with respect to Antarctica and governs the conduct of daily life at McMurdo for United States Antarctic Program (USAP) participants. The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), opened for signature on December 1, 1959, and officially entered into force on June 23, 1961.
The first scientific diving protocols were established before 1960 and the first diving operations were documented in November 1961.[5]
Communications[edit]
Starting in 1963, McMurdo played host to one of the only two shortwave broadcast stations in Antarctica. From sign-on to 1971, the callsign was KMSA, from then on it was changed to WASA (W Antarctic Support Activities), later changing to AFAN in 1975. As KMSA, the station broadcast in the same building as the bowling alley, the barber shop and the retail store. A part of the vinyl collection reportedly came from Vietnam, believing to have been played by Adrian Cronauer's show in Saigon. In a 1997 interview to The Antarctic Sun, Cronauer denied these claims and the vinyl collection was apparently destroyed.[22] The station—AFAN McMurdo—initially operated on AM 600 and had a power of 50 W,[23] but by 1974, it transmitted with a power of 1 kilowatt on the shortwave frequency of 6,012 kHz and became a target for shortwave radio listening to hobbyists around the world because of its rarity. The station was picked up by DX for the first time in New Zealand in July 1974, and within a few months had its signal received as far as the US east coast. AFAN had changed frequencies several times in subsequent years.[24] The station continued broadcasting on shortwave into the 1980s when it dropped shortwave while continuing FM transmission.[25]
For a time, McMurdo had Antarctica's only television station, AFAN-TV, running vintage programs provided by the military. Broadcasts started on November 9, 1973, with a mix of US programs and interviews with visitors and scientists, as well as a daily news and weather service.[26] 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 1975 article in TV Guide magazine, where the station broadcast in the summer months, known by staff as "the season" (November to February), the only season where Antarctica was (at the time) open to aircraft.[27] In the mid-90s, a cable network was installed. By 1998, shortly after the launch of new AFN television services the year before, the traditional AFN network was broadcast over cable channel 2 (the channel that would soon become AFN Prime), NewSports (the current AFN News and AFN Sports) was on channel 11 and Spectrum (current AFN Spectrum) was on channel 13.[28]
Now, McMurdo receives three channels of the US Military's American Forces Network, the Australia Network, and New Zealand news broadcasts. A fourth station on 104.5FM is known as Ice Radio, and features local folks at McMurdo hosting their own radio shows, backed by contemporary music. Television broadcasts are received by satellite at Black Island, and transmitted 25 miles (40 km) by digital microwave to McMurdo.
McMurdo Station receives both Internet and voice communications by satellite communications via the Optus D1 satellite and relayed to Sydney, Australia.[29][30] A satellite dish at Black Island provides 20 Mbit/s Internet connectivity and voice communications. Voice communications are tied into the United States Antarctic Program headquarters in Centennial, Colorado, providing inbound and outbound calls to McMurdo from the US. Voice communications within the station are conducted via VHF radio.
Testing of the Starlink service began in September 2022,[31] with a second terminal providing connectivity for the Allan Hills field camp brought in November 2022.[32] The Starlink test ran from January to March of 2023, when it was shut off indefinitely to analyze test data.
Facilities at the station include: