day 2 anarctica
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Location: South Pole Report: 2 This report filed Jan. 12, 1999 Scientists love the South Pole. They say it's the most alien environment on earth, and that helps them do experiments, especially when the experiments deal with the sky and space. Much of the work can't be done anywhere else. It certainly looks like an alien environment when you land here. After three hours on a LC-130 Hercules airplane out of the McMurdo Station on the coast. A geodesic dome looms out of the snow. The entrance was once at ground level—but 25 years of drifting snow has put the tunnel well below ground now. Inside, there is a mix of a frigid otherworldliness, like Superman's Fortress of Solitude, and down-home American utility. There are heated metal structures inside that house the galley, some storage areas, an office, and communications space. There is some housing inside the dome too. But most of the housing is spread out in little huts, called Jamesways. There are about 10 beds inside the Jamesways, each curtained off from a main hallway. They're surprisingly warm, but you still have to go outside to get to the bathroom—our bathroom was about 100 feet away. That's at minus 30 degrees at, say, one o'clock in the morning. But during the summer, at least there's always sun. Speaking of sun, there was a record-breaking phenomenon in the sky while we were here, it's called a "sundog." That's a halo around the sun caused by the reflection and refraction of ice crystals in the air. This one on January 11 displayed a lot of different forms and arcs. All 200 people who work t the pole stopped to take a look. Oh yes, the Pole. Beneath your feet, the South Pole is two miles of ice, but that doesn't mean there's much water. It's the highest, driest desert in the world. Normal humidity here is less than 10 percent, often less than 5 percent. And its elevation is about 9,300 ft. above sea level. The height combined with lack of humidity makes for conditions that are normally felt at 14,000 ft. Copyright 1999, CBS Worldwide Inc., All Rights Reserved |
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