2025-2026 Science Planning Summary
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Alert
As of midnight, December 20, 2024, the U.S. government is experiencing a lapse in appropriations. Until the situation is resolved, please refer to OPM.gov website regarding the status for federal employees. We expect the U.S. Antarctic Program to remain operational under our contractor for the foreseeable future. Should the situation change, we will post additional information on this website when it is legally permissible to do so.
 
2025-2026 USAP Field Season
Station and Vessel Schedules

The United States Antarctic Program operates three permanent research stations on the continent and two research vessels.

Opening Dates

  Austral Summer Openings Austral Winter Openings
Operational Science
McMurdo
(Early Season*)		 18 Aug 2025 Continuing through Winter/WinFly
5 Sep 2025		 17 Mar 2026
McMurdo (Mainbody) 3 Oct 2025 3 Oct 2025
South Pole 1 Nov 2025 1 Nov 2025 14 Feb 2026
Palmer 13 Oct 2025 13 Oct 2025 14 April 2026

Estimated Population

Summer Winter
McMurdo 952
(weekly average)		 188
(winter total)
South Pole 170
(weekly average)		 45
(winter total)
Palmer 44
(weekly average)		 20
(winter total)

Project Detail

View descriptions for 2025-2026 USAP field season projects, sorted by event number.
Filter projects for the 2025-2026 season by scientific program. Additional information pertaining to the 2025-2026 Field Season.

Project Search

Search by project title, event number, or team member here.

Download

Download the PDF version of the 2025-2026 Science Planning Summary below. Please send us an email with suggestions for improvement or to report an error.
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