Multimedia Gallery
Close-up of new South Pole Station
A close of of the exterior of the new Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.
The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station sits at the Earth's axis, atop a constantly shifting continental ice sheet nearly two miles thick. Perhaps the world's most remote research facility, the station lies at the heart of a continent cut off from the rest of the globe by a circulating Southern Ocean current. Antarctica is the coldest, highest, driest and windiest of the continents, and the least hospitable to human life.
In January 2008, the National Science Foundation (NSF) dedicated a new station at the Pole, the third since 1956. The new elevated station is larger and much more sophisticated than any previous structure built at the Pole, a reflection of the logistical support needed for the ever-increasing range and diversity of the research taking place there. To learn all about the new station, see "A Special Report: U.S. South Pole Station". (Date of Image: Feb. 11, 2008)
Credit: Scot Jackson
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