NSF PR 00-78 - October 17, 2000
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Construction of New South Pole Station Begins
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A model of the new South Pole Station.
Steel construction will begin in November
on the area outlined in red.
The existing Amundsen-Scott South Pole
Station.
Components of a new satellite earth station
that will be installed at the Pole this
season were test-fitted in Texas prior
to construction.
The new garage and shop facility and fuel
storage tanks are built into arches that
eventually will be buried under the ice
by natural processes.
Components of the DASI telescope array
are lowered into place during the 1999-2000
season.
Note
About Images
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Several major construction projects will begin or be
completed during the 2000-2001 Antarctic research
season which are significant milestones toward opening
a modern and environmentally sound scientific station
at the South Pole in 2005. Replacing the aging Amundsen-Scott
South Pole Station is a priority for the National
Science Foundation (NSF), which operates the U.S.
Antarctic Program.
Despite the harsh conditions at the bottom of the world
and the fact that the supply line to the station is
one of the world's longest, the South Pole modernization
project is currently on schedule and within its $152.9
million budget, noted Karl Erb, director of NSF's
office of polar programs.
During the austral summer, construction workers will
erect the first portion of the new elevated station
and complete safety and environmental upgrades to
the station infrastructure. Also this season, a new
satellite earth station will be installed at the Pole
that will vastly improve the telecommunications links
for the community there. Finally, an array of telescopes
that will provide new insights into how the universe
formed is scheduled to become fully operational this
season.
Project materials are produced by suppliers across
the U.S., moved by ship from Port Hueneme, Calif.
to New Zealand and finally flown by the New York Air
National Guard from McMurdo Station in Antarctica
to the construction site at the Pole. Many materials
are test-fitted in the United States to ensure ease
of construction on site. The satellite earth station,
for example, was assembled in Texas in September,
before shipping to Antarctica.
Erection of the first steel structures ok will eventually
become one of two wings of the new, elevated station
at the Pole will begin in November. The sleek, modernistic
station will replace the geodesic dome that, since
the 1970's, has been the predominant feature of the
station.
Jerry Marty, who manages construction, operations and
maintenance at the South Pole for the U.S. Antarctic
Program, noted that while tons of construction cargo
still must be shipped to Antarctica to complete the
construction, the steel framework that will go up
this summer will change the landscape at the Pole
-- both literally and figuratively. "The most dramatic
change of all will occur this year," he said. "No
longer will the Dome be the focal point at the South
Pole."
A new power plant is scheduled for completion in January
that will provide up to one megawatt of electricity
at the station for the first time in history. This
will complete a multi-year environmental and safety
upgrade of existing facilities which also includes
construction of a new fuel storage facility and a
garage and shop.
Also this season, large aluminum "ground shields" will
be added to the Degree Angular Scale Interferometer
(DASI), an array of 13 microwave antennas has been
measuring cosmic background radiation temperature
variations in a fairly large area of the sky above
South Pole for the past several months. The shields
will enhance the telescope's sensitivity. DASI's
measurements will help scientists understand the early
cosmos, and the "dark matter" that is believed to
constitute most of the universe.
Finally, a nine-meter satellite dish connecting the
Pole with the commercial MARISAT- F2 and NSF's GOE-3
satellites will be installed this season. The system
will enable scientists to transfer, rapidly and efficiently,
the large quantities of scientific data gathered each
day in the year-round work at the South Pole. The
new capability will supplement coverage provided by
NASA and U.S. Air Force satellites.
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