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Welcome to the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) web portal.
Funded by the U.S. Government's National Science Foundation (NSF)  , the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) supports scientific research in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The USAP carries forward the Nation's goal of supporting the Antarctic Treaty, fostering cooperative research with other nations, protecting the Antarctic environment, and conserving living resources.
The NSF manages the program under guidance of a Presidential memorandum that directs an "active and influential presence in Antarctica designed to support the range of U.S. Antarctic interests."
Since 1956 Americans have been studying Antarctica and its interactions with the rest of the planet. Research disciplines include glaciology, biology and medicine, geology and geophysics, oceanography, climate studies, astronomy, and astrophysics. Contractors and units of the military provide operational support.
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U.S. Opening Ceremony Celebrates the International Polar Year (IPY)
The U.S. IPY opening ceremony included remarks from polar scientists about the nature and scope of U.S. IPY research, as well as remarks from government officials whose agencies play an active role in IPY ... Read More
Archived Webcast 
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South Pole Station Special Report
Perhaps the world's most remote research environment, the South Pole is a unique scientific laboratory, and the South Pole Special Report captures the ongoing research efforts there ... Read More
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Announcements
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U.S. Antarctic Program Grantee Alert
The USAP Grantee Alert letter describes the impacts, which are expected based on the anticipated budget situation, on support for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 Antarctic seasons. These impacts were discussed at the August 12, 2008 meeting of the National Science Board.
Explore Earth's Poles at a Museum near You with "Polar-Palooza"
The NSF and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-sponsored Polar-Palooza "Stories from a Changing Planet" tour will stop in cities across the country in 2007 and 2008 ... Read More
International Polar Year Web Portal Offers Email Alerts for Educators
Teachers can sign up for email alerts about federally funded educational materials, classroom resources, and information about opportunities to assist scientists in the field ... Read More
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Flying in Support of U.S. Antarctic Science Program, Air Force Makes Night Landing on Southernmost Continent
Using night vision goggles, A C-17 Globemaster III aircrew from McChord Air Force Base, Washington, performed the first known after-dark landing in Antarctica at McMurdo Station ...
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Antarctic Fossils Paint a Picture of a Much Warmer Continent
National Science Foundation-funded scientists working in an ice-free region of Antarctica have discovered the last traces of tundra on the interior of the southernmost continent before temperatures began a relentless drop ... Read More
A Single Boulder May Prove that Antarctica and North America Were Once Connected
A lone granite boulder found atop a glacier in Antarctica may provide additional key evidence to support a theory that parts of the southernmost continent once were connected to North America ... Read More
Scientific Balloons Achieve Antarctic Flight Record
The NSF and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have jointly achieved a new milestone in the almost 20-year history of scientific ballooning in Antarctica by launching and operating three long-duration sub-orbital flights within a single Southern-Hemisphere summer ... Read More
Penguins Helped and Hurt by Changing Climate
Biologist David Ainley has been studying Adélie penguins for 40 years, and in recent years has observed the effects of climate change on the flightless birds … Read More
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Antarctic Photo Library
Photo of the Week:
Inside a dorm room in the Elevated Station at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
The Antarctic Sun Newspaper
Why do people go to Antarctica, and what do they do there? Read the USAP's newspaper to find out about U.S. Antarctic communities ...
National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs
Find out about The Office of Polar Programs' (OPP) operational support in the Antarctic, and how it manages and initiates National Science Foundation funding for basic research ...
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