ratzeputz

Here are some recent photos from the 50th Winter Over at McMurdo.... read more

Hello everyone, April 2, 2005 We usually work six days a week. However, the first Saturday of the every month in the winter is a non-work day. So I thought I would take some time and upload a few more photo from McMurdo taken during the last month. March is the first month of the austral winter season. The first photo is a shot of town taken on a nice day a couple weeks ago. Since that time the sun has sunk behind a ridge and will not shine on the foreground of the photo again until spring. The next one is the Winter 2005 Station Photo with 200 or so of the 241 people on station in the photo. Some people, like the fire dispatcher, power plant operator, etc cannot leave their work area to ... read more

The last flight of the summer season departed Mactown yesterday. A small group of well wishes gathered at Building 140 to bid farewell to the final 71 summer people as they departed for Pegasus Airfield. A couple hours later the plane made a pass close to town as most of the winter overs stood on the deck of the Chalet and toasted it with champagne. Their flight north was on a USAF C-17 cargo plane. For those of us standing on the deck, it’s an interesting mix of emotions as the plane flies away. For those of you wanting to take your own photos from the deck of the Chalet as the last flight flies by, remember it will cost you at least six months of your life to get that photo. With the departure of ... read more

Greetings from sunny and scenic McMurdo Station, which as the locals say, is located very near to Antarctica. CHECK OUT PHOTOS 1 and 2. The US Naval Ship Paul Buck arrived at the McMurdo Ice Pier on Wednesday January 26 and began unloading 6.1 million gallons of AN-8 and JP-5 diesel fuels. (Ships, airplanes and the power plant use these fuels.) This is very good news as without the fuel, the winter population of the station would have been reduced from the current planned level of 235 people to 4 - 20. Of less consequence to Deborah and me, but of more consequence to the US Antarctic Program; all of the upcoming 2005/2006 summer science season would have been cancelled, except for that supported by Palmer Station. Fortunately this did not come to pass and we ... read more