The LC-130 Hercules sleigh ride to the South Pole! Negative forty degrees...
The South Pole sits at an elevation of 9,301 feet on top of approximately a 2 mile thick sheet of ice that is moving toward Africa at the rate of about 30 feet per year.
"The new South Pole station, designed by Ferraro Choi and Associates, is an engineering marvel. To avoid the fate of the two previous stations, the 60,000-sq.-ft. structure (which Polies call the El Station) stands 12 ft. above the surface on 36 columns. When drifts threaten to engulf the station, workers will use 100-ton hydraulic jacks to raise the structure by two full stories (one story about every 15 years), extending its life expectancy until 2050." -Popular Mechanics
That is some expensive siding.
Growth Room in the new South Pole station building.
The old South Pole dome... being retrograded?
Inside the dome it's just being used for storage... I guess it used to have buildings inside for a gym and housing... besides other stuff.
This is where all our tax dollars are going... South Pole signage.
Three hour ride back home... This here is Mike trying to make the perfect scarf.
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