McMurdo Station (77°51'S, 166°40'E), the main U.S. station in Antarctica, is a coastal station on the volcanic hills at the
southern tip of Ross Island, about 3,864 km (2,415 miles) south of Christchurch, New Zealand, and 1,360 km (850 miles)
north of the South Pole. The original station was built in 1955 to 1956 for the International Geophysical Year. Today's
station is the primary logistics facility for supply of inland stations and remote field camps, and is also the waste management
center for much of the U.S. Antarctic Program. Year-round and summer science projects are supported at McMurdo.
The station has a harbor, landing strips
on the sea ice and shelf ice, and a helicopter pad. The three airfields-the annual sea-ice
runway, Pegasus White Ice Runway, and Williams Field Skiway-are used at different times of the year for different reasons. The
station's 85 or so buildings range in size from a small radio shack to large, three-story structures. Repair facilities, dormitories,
administrative buildings, a firehouse, power plant, water distillation plant, wharf, stores, clubs, warehouses, a science support
center, and the first-class, 4,320 square-meter Crary Lab are linked by above-ground water, sewer, telephone, and power lines.
The mean annual temperature is -18°C (0°F). Temperatures may reach 8°C (46°F) in summer and -50°C (-58°F) in winter. The
average wind is 12 knots, but winds have exceeded 100 knots.
McMurdo Station began austral summer operations on September 4, 2008 and begins winter operations February 23, 2009.
More than 2,000 science and support personnel will pass through or stay at McMurdo Station during the summer, with a weekly
average population of 642 people. From McMurdo, science teams travel to the South Pole, the McMurdo Dry Valleys, West
Antarctica, and East Antarctica. This austral summer, large field camps are supported in West Antarctica at Siple Dome
(81o 39’ S, 149o 04’ W), at the West Antarctic ice divide (79o 46’ S, 112o 8’ W), and in East Antarctica in the Gamburtsev
Mountain range (84o 29’ S, 77o 14’ E).
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