Station Tour - B3 Comms/admin offices/B2 Science lab

Comms, where we keep in touch with radio contact with the outside world.

On the upper level, at the far end of station, just across from the gym and the conference rooms is the Comms room tracks planes and helps USAP planes land during the summer. However, our runway is an uncontrolled air space so technically any plane can show up and land at any time. There are a few tourists flights each year. I assume Comms tries to prevent unannounced landings. During the winter, we don't have anyone in there all the time and windows are closed up because there are no planes in or out. When winter finishes up, we'll have some volunteers step in to handle those duties.

Admin offices and some South Pole artifacts.

Beside Comms, we have a long hallway of small private offices for the important folks. During the winter, only one office is used. During the summer, 5-6 are. Around the corner from there, is the standard room of office supplies that every office building ever has with printers, pens, etc. We call ours Kinko'.

Kinko's

The facilities bullpen

Next to Kinko's are more offices for the Facilities department and a bullpen for their drop in folks. The bullpen room is filled with technical drawings, CDs with more technical drawings, and a plotter. That plotter has brought a lot of joy to station as we use it pretty up the cardboard that is covering up all the windows.

B2 Science

About a third of the way down the hall is a huge science room. Its filled with computers, instrumentation, a small lab, and lots of other stuff that I can't identify. For the most part, they scientists take of their own needs. I have spent a little bit of time upstairs there so that I could learn to turn on the LIDAR (bright green laser) in case of a missing persons event. Think of 'the light' calling the bugs in Wreck-It Ralph. This covers about 25% of station so far.

B2 Science

Station Tour - B3/B4 Conference rooms and gyms

Our workout gym on the upper level. One of my favorite parts is the Average Joe's Gym sign (from the Dodgeball movie) that I put up.

South Pole station is the newest station that the US Antarctic Program maintains. It has the nicest facilities by far.  We have a huge gym with 3 treadmills, 2 bikes, 2 ellipticals, a rower, yoga mats, and tons of weights. I started up a small lunch time cardio group. We throw on an episode of the 1990s series Northern Exposure and we watch a single 45-minute episode six days a week. Having the social group has definitely kept me going on days when I am feeling lazy.

When I was in Antarctica before, I ran a few marathons. I have not been able to find that kind of running in me now. I think part of is being 10 years older, but a lot of it is also the elevation. We are technically at 9,301 ft, but the atmospheric pressure makes it feel like 10,000 to 11,500 ft. While I can run shorter distances at speed, I really start sweating and breathing hard with any distance of running that takes me over 50 minutes. It has been frustrating, but maybe this is a chance for me to learn to age gracefully =]

Some folks track their cardio and try to match the 850 mile distance to McMurdo over a season or lift as much cargo as the planes carry up each year. I am not tracking either. I am just trying to be consistent.

Our Big Gym

On the lower level, right under the workout gym, we have our Big Gym. Over the summer, it gets a ton of use with soccer, volleyball, and basketball. However, this winter, our Big Gym is getting very little athletic use. We use it every morning for a small group stretch and then twice a week for abs classes. A few folks use it on their own. There's talk of getting pickleball started, which would be a treat. Mostly, we use it for parties and the big screen experience.

Playing video games in the converted 'Big Gym'

Right near the workout gym, we have two conference rooms. There isn't anything fancy about them, but there is a lot of neat historical memorabilia in them. I feel the same way about most of my meetings down here as I do back in the states and try to avoid these rooms. When IT meets, the 3-4 of us meet in our galley lounge, which is a much more informal and fun environment.

Our large conference room

Our small conference room

Station Tour - Part 1

 Almost my entire world from February to November. The start of the runway is the groomed spot on the right. The science buildings are almost all out of the photo, but just followed the groomed lines to get to them.

When I arrived, I never had time to blog a proper intro to station. I was tired, quarantined, and trying to get up to speed on my job. Five months in, I think it is finally time to get to it. The photo above is an aerial view of the entire base. We live and mostly work in the four-pronged E at the bottom of the photo.  That 'E' is the elevated station that was finished in 2010. The buildings just above it our summer camp where a few offices are during the summer. Beyond them is a ton of storage berms that we try to get organized and keep clear of snow, but it is a perpetual battle.

Map of the upper level of the elevated station where I spend most of my time.

 

Map of the lower level of the elevated station.

Map of the arches that are accessed via the vertical tower, commonly called the Beer Can.

This is a high level map of station. My room is half way down on the right of the last prong of the E. I get great view of the pole when it's light out, which won't happen again until August. If you follow the prong back up to the 'back' of the E, that is where the galley is and where I eat. I shower in a bathroom on the walk between the galley and my room. I work just across from the third prong. That means that I spend 90% of my time (sleep, work, shower, and eat) in 25% of the elevated station - the right side upper level. 

On the lower level of the elevated station, I spend time in the Big Gym, greenhouse, and B3 movie lounge.

If you go down the unheated vertical tower for 94 steps, you get to our power station, logistics arch for handling supplies and cargo, the fuel arch, and the Vehicle Maintenance Facility.  Outside of that, you have to spend way too long getting dressed to go to different buildings. Some folks go out every day, some folks only go out once every two weeks. I find myself not spending nearly as much time as I want outside and regretting it, but I'm getting better at it.

The elevated station upper level hallway.

When you first enter South Pole station from the plane, you go up to the upper level. This hallway is the view you get. Whenever you leave any room on station, it drops you into this hallway. The far end of this hallway is where the photos of every winter over crew since 1957 is.

The elevated station lower level hallway.

This is the view of the lower level hallway. That door leads to the all important popcorn machine and coat room.

For the next few days, I'll try to just walk from one end of station to the other taking photos to give an overview.