Your trip starts in New Zealand, contines through McMurdo Station and on to the South Pole
In New Zealand you stop at the
International Antarctic Center and gear up with warm clothes
The plane to take you to McMurdo is a C-130 Hercules
This page is a web version of a display I made for the Adler Planetarium's Antarctica Day, which was May 11, 2002. It's based on my South Pole Journal and the CARA Virtual Tour.
Your trip starts in New Zealand, contines through McMurdo Station and on to the South Pole
In New Zealand you stop at the
International Antarctic Center and gear up with warm clothes
The plane to take you to McMurdo is a C-130 Hercules
From the outside |
From the inside |
Sea ice from the window of the plane as you approach Antarctica
McMurdo Station, Antarctica
Getting off the plane |
Transport vehicles |
View of McMurdo station from Hut Point |
Welcome to South Pole Station
The Dome
The tunnel into the Dome |
Buildings inside the Dome |
The galley, where you eat |
Most summer visitors sleep in Jamesways, out at Summer Camp
 |
 |
Scenes from around the South Pole Station
The extreme conditions include high altitude and sub-zero temperatures. It is the driest desert on Earth.
The ceremonial pole. |
A view of the Dome from the path between the telescopes and the Dome. |
The airstrip. |
Part of a rainbow halo that extends all the way around the Sun in
a full circle, caused by ice crystals in the air.
|
Snow formations |
The wind always blows from approximately the same direction, so long fins of snow form on even the smallest bumps. |
The sun sets in March and doesn't rise again until September
Sunset
|
One of the telescopes by moonlight
|
Homeward Bound
A view of the Trans Antarctic Mountains between Pole and McMurdo
|
Another style of plane for the flight from McMurdo to Christchurch:
a C-141.
|
Credits:
This virtual tour is based on the Virtual Tour of Antarctica by the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (CARA) and on Kim Coble's South Pole Journal.
Photo credits: CARA, Kim Coble and Christine Gamble
Back to Kim Coble's Home Page
Back to Kim Coble's Education/Public Outreach Interests
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed here are are not the responsibility
of the University of Chicago or the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation
under the AAPF program. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recomendationsexpressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views of the
National Science Foundation (NSF).
last modified 5/13/02