McMurdo Station...

Well, not a whole lot has changed here. We are still on schedule and anticipating our first launch will probably be in the second week of December (weather permitting of course). We had a fairly significant problem arise earlier this week when one of our hoists broke down. It had the potential to delay us for up to 2 weeks while we were waiting for another to be shipped down, but luckily, it was able to be fixed. So, today, thought I would write a little about McMurdo Station.

There are about 1200 people living and working in McMurdo now with still more in various stages of transition to other stations on the continent. It is a very busy place - there are always people coming and going. Generally, though, it is seems to be a fairly well coordinated operation(with a few snags). For as beautiful as Antarctica is, McMurdo is definitely not beautiful. Of course the view from town is great, but the actual town consists of an odd assortment of metal, drab and dismal buildings (many left over when the Navy used to run the town). All of the buildings are very functional and suffice, but aesthetics were definitely not considered in their design.

The town has several nicknames, one of which is Mud Town. This is because on warmer days when the sun is out, the snow and ice melt in the town, and everything turns to mud. The whole town is on a hill, so at times, there are small streams of mud that flow through the middle of everything. I have been told, that later on in the Summer, these streams can in fact become quite large and actually do damage. There isn't really any dirt here, it is all volcanic rock and fine volcanic dust, so this makes it very difficult to get the mud off of your clothes and shoes.

Not all is bad, though. There are many things in town that are designed to make the people that live here fell more like they are at home. There is a library, a video store/convenience store/liquor store/gift shop (yes that's all one place), a bowling alley, a gymnasium, a barber shop, workout facilities, 2 bars (1 smoking, 1 non), a coffee house, a church, and most of the dorms have either a ping pong table or a pool table in them. Then there are several outdoor things you can do as well. There are hiking trails around town, shuttles that go to the nearby New Zealand base (where there is a better gift shop and you can see seals and the occasional penguin), and also there are weekly tours to the nearby glacial ice caves (I really hope to do this one soon).

Anyway, below are some pictures of McMurdo in all of its glory (or lack there of)!

This is Building 155. This is kind of the main hub of the station, where the mess hall is and a lot of the offices. Notice all of the mud in the foreground (and this is not much compared to warmer days)

One of the more aesthetically pleasing buildings, this is appropriately enough called The Chapel of the Snows. It is a non-denominational chapel, and they have service for many different religions in here. The anchors in the front remain from the Navy days.

This is my dorm. Definitely nothing fancy, but I guess it has everything you need.