116-737: The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is a United States scientific research station at the South Pole of the Earth. It is the southernmost point under the jurisdiction (not sovereignty ) of the United States. The station is located on the high plateau of Antarctica at 9,301 feet (2,835 m) above sea level . It is administered by the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation , specifically
232-505: A stroke on August 27, resulting in loss of vision and cognitive function. Because the Amundsen–Scott base lacks diagnostic medical equipment such as an MRI or CT scan machine, station doctors were unable to fully evaluate the damage done by the stroke or the chance of recurrence. Physicians on site recommended a medevac flight as soon as possible for Douceur, but offsite doctors hired by Raytheon Polar Services (the company contracted to run
348-427: A uranium nucleus in 1938, a number of scientists concluded that a nuclear chain reaction was feasible and possible. The Einstein–Szilárd letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warned that this breakthrough would permit the construction of "extremely powerful bombs." This warning inspired an executive order towards the investigation of using uranium as a weapon, which later was superseded during World War II by
464-851: A Ph.D. in 1939. His dissertation was on "Adaptations of the Explorer to the Climate of Antarctic". He worked in the Army Scientific Office for most of his career. Siple was involved with the United States Antarctic Service Expedition of 1939–1941 , which would have been the third Byrd expedition. He served during Operation Highjump , (also known as the United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program 1946–1947), developed cold weather gear for
580-480: A free, creative environment. Other scientists had come to the United States to take part in the nation's rapid growth. Alexander Graham Bell , who arrived from Scotland by way of Canada in 1872, developed and patented the telephone and related inventions. Charles Proteus Steinmetz , who came from Germany in 1889, developed new alternating-current electrical systems at General Electric Company , and Vladimir Zworykin , an immigrant who arrived from Russia to
696-623: A government granted monopoly, which after a limited period would become free to all citizens, thereby enriching the public domain . In the early decades of its history, the United States was relatively isolated from Europe and also rather poor. At this stage, America's scientific infrastructure was still quite primitive compared to the long-established societies, institutes, and universities in Europe. Eight of America's founding fathers were scientists of some repute. Benjamin Franklin conducted
812-538: A new section of column will be added over the existing columns then the jacks pull the building up to the higher elevation. During the summer the station population is typically around 150. Most personnel leave by the middle of February, leaving a few dozen (39 in 2021) "winter-overs", mostly support staff plus a few scientists, who keep the station functional through the months of Antarctic night. The winter personnel are isolated between mid-February and late October. Wintering-over presents notorious dangers and stresses , as
928-549: A number of science and berthing structures, such as the hypertats and elevated dormitory, were added in the 1990s, particularly for astronomy and astrophysics. During the period in which the dome served as the main station, many changes to United States South Pole operation took place. From the 1990s on, astrophysical research conducted at the South Pole took advantage of its favorable atmospheric conditions and began to produce important scientific results. Such experiments include
1044-401: A profound impact on the development of science and technology in the United States. Before World War II, the federal government basically did not assume responsibility for supporting scientific development. During the war, the federal government and science formed a new cooperative relationship. After the war, the federal government became the main role in supporting science and technology. And in
1160-479: A series of experiments that deepened human understanding of electricity . Among other things, he proved what had been suspected but never before shown: that lightning is a form of electricity. Franklin also invented such conveniences as bifocal eyeglasses. Franklin also conceived the mid-room furnace, the "Franklin Stove". However, Franklin's design was flawed, in that his furnace vented the smoke from its base: because
1276-404: A system where several lights were turned on or off at the same time. Edison followed up his improvement of the light bulb with the development of electrical generating systems . Within 30 years, his inventions had introduced electric lighting into millions of homes. Another landmark application of scientific ideas to practical uses was the innovation of the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright . In
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#17327732897831392-426: A tourist group, when he fell ill and was evacuated, first to McMurdo Station and from there to Christchurch, New Zealand , where he was reported to be in stable condition. Aldrin's visit at age 86 makes him the oldest person to ever reach the South Pole. In the summer of 2016–17, Anthony Bourdain filmed part of an episode of his television show Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown at the station. Science and life at
1508-408: A zealous nationwide investment in "Big Science" and state-of-the-art government funded facilities and programs. This state patronage presented appealing careers to the intelligentsia, and further consolidated the scientific preeminence of the United States. As a result, the U.S. government became, for the first time, the largest single supporter of basic and applied scientific research. By the mid-1950s,
1624-531: Is a small greenhouse at the station. The variety of vegetables and herbs in the greenhouse, which range from fresh eggplant to jalapeños , are all produced hydroponically , using only water and nutrients and no soil. The greenhouse is the only source of fresh fruit and vegetables during the winter. The station has a runway for aircraft ( ICAO : NZSP ), 12,000 feet (3,658 m) long. Between October and February, there are several flights per day of U.S. Air Force ski-equipped Lockheed LC-130 Hercules aircraft from
1740-463: Is knowledge that helps prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat disease and disability. At any given time, grants from the NIH support the research of about 35,000 principal investigators. Five Nobel Prize-winners have made their prize-winning discoveries in NIH laboratories. NIH research has helped make possible numerous medical achievements. For example, mortality from heart disease , the number-one killer in
1856-482: Is usually solely for supply and refueling of the station, and does not customarily accept passengers, as the plane's cabin is unpressurized. The evacuation was successful, and Douceur arrived in Christchurch , New Zealand, at 10:55 p.m. She ultimately made a full recovery. In March 2014, BICEP2 announced that they had detected B-modes from gravitational waves generated in the early universe , supporting
1972-661: The American Revolutionary War by promoting hygiene and public health practices. By introducing new medical treatments, he made the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia an example of medical enlightenment, and after his military service, Rush established the first free clinic in the United States. Charles Willson Peale is best remembered as an artist, but he also was a natural historian, inventor, educator, and politician. He created
2088-670: The Apollo 11 landing on the Moon and the partially reusable Space Shuttle , the American space program brought forth a breathtaking display of applied science. Communications satellites transmit computer data, telephone calls, and radio and television broadcasts. Weather satellites furnish the data necessary to provide early warnings of severe storms. The United States also developed the Global Positioning System (GPS),
2204-688: The Boy Scouts of America as an Eagle Scout . In addition to being an Eagle Scout, Siple was also a Sea Scout . His first and third books covered these adventures. With Charles F. Passel he developed the wind chill factor, and Siple coined the term. Siple was born in Montpelier, Ohio on December 18, 1908, to Clyde Lavonius Siple and Fannie Hope Allman. His family moved to Erie, Pennsylvania , where he graduated from Central High School in 1926. He became an Eagle Scout in 1923 with 59 merit badges. After an extensive nationwide search in 1928, he
2320-630: The DOD DSCS -3 satellite, and the commercial Iridium satellite constellation . For the 2007–2008 season, the TDRS relay (named South Pole TDRSS Relay or SPTR) was upgraded to support a data return rate of 50 Mbit/s , which comprises over 90% of the data return capability. The TDRS-1 satellite formerly provided services to the station, but it failed in October 2009 and was subsequently decommissioned. Marisat and LES9 were also formerly used. In July 2016,
2436-807: The DynaTAC 8000x was the first commercially available handheld mobile phone. From 1983 to 2014, worldwide mobile phone subscriptions grew to over seven billion; enough to provide one for every person on Earth. During the Cold War, competition for superior missile capability led to the Space Race between the United States and Soviet Union. American Robert Goddard was one of the first scientists to experiment with rocket propulsion systems. In his small laboratory in Worcester, Massachusetts , Goddard worked with liquid oxygen and gasoline to propel rockets into
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#17327732897832552-585: The International Geophysical Year , an effort lasting from January 1957 to June 1958 to study, among other things, the geophysics of the polar regions of Earth . Before November 1956, there was no permanent artificial structure at the pole, and practically no human presence in the interior of Antarctica. The few scientific stations in Antarctica were near its coast. The station has been continuously occupied since it
2668-474: The Korean War , and Operation Deep Freeze I in 1955–1956. He was the inaugural scientific leader at the U.S. Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station 1956–1957, during the International Geophysical Year . This activity is covered in his fourth book, 90 Degrees South . From 1963 to 1966 he served as the first U.S. science attaché to Australia and New Zealand , where he had a stroke in 1966 and returned to
2784-677: The Manhattan Project the full Allied effort to be the first to build an atomic bomb . The project bore fruit when the first such bomb was exploded in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. The development of the bomb and its use against Japan in August 1945 initiated the Atomic Age , a time of anxiety over weapons of mass destruction that has lasted through the Cold War and down to the anti-proliferation efforts of today. Even so,
2900-523: The Pacific Northwest , and detailed, systematic information on the region's plants and animals was one of that expedition's legacies. Like Franklin and Jefferson, most American scientists of the late 18th century were involved in the struggle to win American independence and forge a new nation. These scientists included the astronomer David Rittenhouse , the medical scientist Benjamin Rush , and
3016-1192: The Silver Buffalo Award from the BSA in 1947 and the Order of the Arrow National Distinguished Service Award in 1958. He received the Hubbard Medal from the National Geographic Society in 1958. In 1960 he was awarded the Hans Egede Medal by the Royal Danish Geographical Society . He also received the Byrd Antarctic Expedition Medal , the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition Medal , United States Antarctic Expedition Medal and
3132-431: The South Pole . On September 6, 2007, The National Geographic Channel 's television show Man Made aired an episode on the construction of their new facility. On November 9, 2007, edition of NBC 's Today , show co-anchor Ann Curry made a satellite telephone call which was broadcast live from the South Pole. On Christmas 2007, two employees at the base got into a fight and had to be evacuated. On July 11, 2011,
3248-725: The United States Air Force ICBM program before his team was reassigned to NASA . Often credited as “The Father of Rocket Science,” his work on the Redstone rocket and the successful deployment of the Explorer 1 satellite as a response to Sputnik 1 marked the beginning of the American Space program, and therefore, of the Space Race . Von Braun's subsequent development of the Saturn V rocket for NASA in
3364-496: The United States Antarctic Program (USAP). It is named in honor of Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Briton Robert F. Scott , who led separate teams that raced to become the first to the pole in the early 1900s. The original Amundsen–Scott Station was built by Navy Seabees for the federal government of the United States during November 1956, as part of its commitment to the scientific goals of
3480-710: The atmosphere , and in 1926 successfully fired the world's first liquid-fuel rocket which reached a height of 12.5 meters. Over the next 10 years, Goddard's rockets achieved modest altitudes of nearly two kilometers, and interest in rocketry increased in the United States, Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union. As Allied forces advanced during World War II, both the American and Russian forces searched for top German scientists who could be claimed as spoils for their country. The American effort to bring home German rocket technology in Operation Paperclip , and
3596-536: The inflation theory of cosmology. Later analysis showed that BICEP only saw polarized dust signal in the galaxy and not primordial B-modes. On 20 June 2016, there was another medical evacuation of two personnel around midwinter day, again involving Kenn Borek Air and DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft. In December 2016, Buzz Aldrin was visiting the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica, as part of
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3712-511: The personal computer industry, while ARPA and NASA funded the development of the ARPANET and the Internet . Herman Hollerith was just a twenty-year-old engineer when he realized the need for a better way for the U.S. government to conduct their Census and then proceeded to develop electromechanical tabulators for that purpose. The net effect of the many changes from the 1880 census :
3828-415: The transistor , a key component in almost all modern electronics , which led to the development of microprocessors , software , personal computers , and the Internet . As a result, book-sized computers of today can outperform room-sized computers of the 1960s, and there has been a revolution in the way people live – in how they work, study, conduct business, and engage in research. World War II had
3944-538: The 1890s, they became fascinated with accounts of German glider experiments and began their own investigation into the principles of flight. Combining scientific knowledge and mechanical skills, the Wright brothers built and flew several gliders . Then, on December 17, 1903, they successfully flew the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight . The automobile companies of Ransom E. Olds ( Oldsmobile ) and Henry Ford ( Ford Motor Company ) popularized
4060-413: The 1970s and 1980s, plans for several nuclear plants were cancelled, and the future of nuclear power remains in a state of uncertainty in the United States. Meanwhile, American scientists have been experimenting with other renewable energy , including solar power . Although solar power generation is still not economical in much of the United States, recent developments might make it more affordable. For
4176-428: The 1980s and 1990s, researchers performed the first trial of gene therapy in humans and are now able to locate, identify, and describe the function of many genes in the human genome . Research conducted by universities, hospitals, and corporations also contributes to improvement in diagnosis and treatment of disease. NIH funded the basic research on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ( AIDS ), for example, but many of
4292-668: The Amundsen-Scott South Pole station is documented in Dr. John Bird 's award-winning book, One Day, One Night: Portraits of the South Pole which chronicles the South Pole Foucault Pendulum, the 300 Club , the first midwinter medevac, and science at the Pole including climate change and cosmology. Science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson 's book Antarctica features a fictionalized account of
4408-485: The Atomic Age has also been characterized by peaceful uses of nuclear power , as in the advances in nuclear power and nuclear medicine . Along with the production of the atomic bomb, World War II also began an era known as " Big Science " with increased government patronage of scientific research. The advantage of a scientifically and technologically sophisticated country became all too apparent during wartime, and in
4524-522: The European Union's $ 297.9bn. One of the most spectacular – and controversial – accomplishments of US technology has been the harnessing of nuclear energy . The concepts that led to the splitting of the atom were developed by the scientists of many countries, but the conversion of these ideas into the reality of nuclear fission was accomplished in the United States in the early 1940s, both by many Americans but also aided tremendously by
4640-515: The GOES-3 satellite was decommissioned due to it nearing the end of its supply of propellant and was replaced by the use of the DSCS-3 satellite, a military communications satellite . DSCS-3 can provide a 30 MB/s data rate compared to GOES-3's 1.5 MB/s. DSCS-3 and TDRS-4, 5, and 6 are used together to provide the main communications capability for the station. These satellites provide the data uplink for
4756-609: The JIOA had been employed by the U.S. military since the defeat of the Nazi regime in Project Overcast, but Operation Paperclip ventured to systematically allocate German nuclear and aerospace research and scientists to military and civilian posts, beginning in August 1945. Until the program's termination in 1990, Operation Paperclip was said to have recruited over 1,600 such employees in a variety of professions and disciplines. In
Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station - Misplaced Pages Continue
4872-584: The Manhattan Project's Operation Alsos and its components, while not designed to recruit European scientists, successfully collected and evaluated Axis military scientific research at the end of the war, especially that of the German nuclear energy project , only to conclude that it was years behind its American counterpart. When World War II ended, the United States, the United Kingdom and
4988-457: The NSF continued to state Douceur's condition did not qualify for a medevac attempt and conditions at the base would not permit an earlier flight, Douceur and her supporters brought the situation to media attention. Douceur was evacuated, along with a doctor and an escort, on an October 17 cargo flight. This was the first flight available when the weather window opened up on October 16. This first flight
5104-617: The New York Air National Guard, 109 AW, 139AS Stratton Air National Guard via McMurdo Station to supply the station. Resupply missions are collectively termed Operation Deep Freeze . There is a snow road over the ice sheet from McMurdo, the McMurdo-South Pole highway , which is 995 miles (1,601 km) long. Data access to the station is provided by NASA 's TDRS -4 (non operational), 5 (not radio link to 90°), and 6 (not radio link to 90°) satellites:
5220-858: The Nobel Prizes awarded in the sciences. See the List of Nobel laureates by country . The American Brain Gain continued throughout the Cold War , as tensions steadily escalated in the Eastern Bloc , resulting in a steady trickle of defectors, refugees and emigrants. The partition of Germany, for one, precipitated over three and a half million East Germans – the Republikflüchtling - to cross into West Berlin by 1961. Most of them were young, well-qualified, educated professionals or skilled workers -
5336-576: The Python, Viper , and DASI telescopes, as well as the 390-inch (10 m) South Pole Telescope . The DASI telescope has since been decommissioned and its mount used for the Keck Array . The AMANDA / IceCube experiment makes use of the two-mile (3 km)-thick ice sheet to detect neutrinos which have passed through the earth. An observatory building, the Martin A. Pomerantz Observatory (MAPO),
5452-558: The Skylab, a box-shaped tower slightly taller than the dome. Skylab was connected to the Dome by a tunnel. The Skylab housed atmospheric sensor equipment and later a music room. During the 1970–1974 summers, the Seabees constructing the dome were housed in Korean War era Jamesway huts . A hut consists of a wooden frame with a raised platform covered by canvas tarp. A double-doored vestibule
5568-465: The South Pole by air and airdropped. They were originally built on the surface, with covered wood-framed walkways connecting the buildings. Although snow accumulation in open areas at the South Pole is approximately 8 inches (20 cm) per year, wind-blown snow accumulates much more quickly in the vicinity of raised structures. By 1960, three years after the construction of the station, it had already been buried by 6 feet (1.8 m) of snow. The station
5684-492: The South Pole during the summer. During the winter of 1988 a loud crack was heard in the dome. Upon investigation it was discovered that the foundation base ring beams were broken due to being overstressed. The dome was dismantled in late 2009. It was crated and given to the Seabees. They have it in storage at Port Hueneme , California. The center oculus is suspended in a display at the Seabee Museum there. In 1992,
5800-653: The Soviet Union were all intent on capitalizing on Nazi research and competed for the spoils of war. While President Harry S. Truman refused to provide sanctuary to ideologically committed members of the Nazi party, the Office of Strategic Services introduced Operation Paperclip , conducted under the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency. This program covertly offered otherwise ineligible intellectuals and technicians whitewashed dossiers, biographies, and employment. Ex-Nazi scientists overseen by
5916-497: The States in 1919, bringing his knowledge of x-rays and cathode ray tubes and later won his first patent on a television system he invented. The Serbian Nikola Tesla went to the United States in 1884, and would later adapt the principle of the rotating magnetic field in the development of an alternating current induction motor and polyphase system for the generation, transmission, distribution and use of electrical power. Into
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#17327732897836032-401: The U.S. during this same emigration wave, including Niels Bohr , Victor Weisskopf , Otto Stern , and Eugene Wigner . Several scientific and technological breakthroughs during the Atomic Age were the handiwork of such immigrants, who recognized the potential threats and uses of new technology. For instance, it was German professor Einstein and his Hungarian colleague, Leó Szilárd , who took
6148-688: The U.S. purchased the Louisiana Territory and Lewis and Clark explored the vast new acquisition. After leaving office, he retired to his Virginia plantation, Monticello, and helped spearhead the University of Virginia . Jefferson was also a student of agriculture who introduced various types of rice, olive trees, and grasses into the New World. He stressed the scientific aspect of the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804–06), which explored
6264-482: The United States ranked 3rd in the Global Innovation Index . As in physics and chemistry, Americans have dominated the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine since World War II. The private sector has been the focal point for biomedical research in the United States , and has played a key role in this achievement. Maurice Hilleman , a well-known American virologist , is remembered for having developed more than 40 vaccines , thus creating an important record in
6380-471: The United States, dropped 41 percent between 1971 and 1991. The death rate for strokes decreased by 59 percent during the same period. Between 1991 and 1995, the cancer death rate fell by nearly 3 percent, the first sustained decline since national record-keeping began in the 1930s. And today more than 70 percent of children who get cancer are cured. With the help of the NIH, molecular genetics and genomics research have revolutionized biomedical science . In
6496-403: The United States. He died on November 25, 1968, at the Army Research Center in Arlington, Virginia . Antarctic features Siple Coast , Siple Island , Mount Siple , Siple Ridge and Siple Station were named in his honor. Siple is noteworthy because he is one of a very few individuals to participate in all five of the Antarctic expeditions conducted by Richard E. Byrd . Siple received
6612-416: The United States. One of the first to do so was Albert Einstein in 1933. At his urging, and often with his support, a good percentage of Germany's theoretical physics community, previously the best in the world, left for the United States. Enrico Fermi , came from Italy in 1938, and led the work that produced the world's first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction . Many other scientists of note moved to
6728-738: The amateur radio call sign prefix run of KC4 and AT; whereas Soviet/Russian stations are known to use 4K1 and others. The popularity of the hobby during the 1950-80s era saw many ham exchanges between South Polar ham stations and enthusiastic ham operators contacting there from world-wide locations. Over the years, ham radio has established needed emergency communication to Polar base personnel as well as recreational uses. Cosmic Microwave Background Telescopes Neutrino Experiments Typical of inland Antarctica, Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station experiences an ice cap climate ( EF ) with BWk precipitation patterns. The peak season of summer lasts from December to mid February. In 1991, Michael Palin visited
6844-499: The assembly line in the early 20th century. The rise of fascism and Nazism in the 1920s and 30s led many European scientists, such as Albert Einstein , Enrico Fermi , and John von Neumann , to immigrate to the United States. An American invention that was barely noticed in 1947 went on to usher in the Information Age . In that year John Bardeen , William Shockley , and Walter Brattain of Bell Laboratories drew upon highly sophisticated principles of quantum physics to invent
6960-413: The base on the eighth and final episode of his BBC Television documentary, Pole to Pole . On January 10, 1995, NASA , PBS , and NSF collaborated for the first live television broadcast from the South Pole, titled Spaceship South Pole . During this interactive broadcast, students from several schools in the United States asked the scientists at the station questions about their work and conditions at
7076-538: The base) and the National Science Foundation disagreed with the severity of the situation. The National Science Foundation, which is the final authority on all flights and assumes all financial responsibility for the flights, denied the request for medevac, saying the weather was still too hazardous. Plans were made to evacuate Douceur on the first flight available. Douceur and her niece, believing Douceur's condition to be grave and believing an earlier medevac flight possible, contacted Senator Jeanne Shaheen for assistance; as
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#17327732897837192-562: The bringing of German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun (who would later sit at the head of a NASA center) stand out in particular. Expendable rockets provided the means for launching artificial satellites , as well as crewed spacecraft . In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik 1 , and the United States followed with Explorer 1 in 1958. The first human spaceflights were made in early 1961, first by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and then by American astronaut Alan Shepard . From those first tentative steps, to
7308-450: The construction crew departed on January 4, 1957. The first wintering-over party consisted of eight IGY scientists led by Paul Siple and eight Navy support men led by LTJG John Tuck. Key components of the camp included an astronomical observatory, a Rawin Tower , a weather balloon inflation shelter, and a 1,000-foot (300 m) snow tunnel with pits for a seismometer and magnetometer . The lowest average temperatures recorded by
7424-425: The culture at Amundsen–Scott and McMurdo , set in the near future. Science and technology in the United States Science and technology in the United States has a long history , producing many important figures and developments in the field. The United States of America came into being around the Age of Enlightenment (1685 to 1815), an era in Western philosophy in which writers and thinkers, rejecting
7540-447: The day, including National Science Foundation Director Arden Bement , scientist Susan Solomon and other government officials. The entirety of building materials to complete the build of the new South Pole Station were flown in from McMurdo Station by the LC-130 Hercules aircraft and the 139th Airlift Squadron Stratton Air National Guard Base, Scotia, New York. Each plane brought 26,000 pounds (12,000 kg) of cargo each flight with
7656-401: The design of a new station began for an 80,000 sq ft (7,400 m) building with two floor levels that cost US$ 150 million. Construction began in 1999, adjacent to the Dome. The facility was officially dedicated on January 12, 2008, with a ceremony that included the de-commissioning of the old Dome station. The ceremony was attended by a number of dignitaries flown in specifically for
7772-404: The desire to encourage scientific creativity. It gives the United States Congress the power "to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." This clause formed the basis for the U.S. patent and copyright systems, whereby creators of original art and technology would get
7888-440: The drugs used to treat the disease have emerged from the laboratories of the American pharmaceutical industry ; those drugs are being tested in research centers across the country. Paul Siple Paul Allman Siple (December 18, 1908 – November 25, 1968) was an American Antarctic explorer and geographer who took part in six Antarctic expeditions, including the two Byrd expeditions of 1928–1930 and 1933–1935, representing
8004-402: The early 1900s, Europe remained the center of science research, notably in England and Germany. From the 1920s onwards, the tensions heralding the onset of World War II spurred sporadic but steady scientific emigration, or " brain drain ", in Europe. Many of these emigrants were Jewish scientists, fearing the repercussions of anti-Semitism, especially in Germany and Italy, and sought sanctuary in
8120-432: The entry to the dome and it had a transverse arch that contained modular buildings for the station's maintenance, fuel bladders, power plant, snow melter, equipment and vehicles. Individual buildings within the dome contained the dorms, galley, recreational center, post office and labs for monitoring the upper and lower atmosphere and numerous other complex projects in astronomy and astrophysics . The station also included
8236-433: The equipment and building material. The buildings were constructed from prefabricated four-by-eight-foot modular panels . Exterior surfaces were four inches (10 cm) thick, with an aluminum interior surface, and a plywood exterior surface, sandwiching fiberglass . Skylights were the only windows in flat uniform roof levels, while buildings were connected by a burlap and chicken wire covered tunnel system. The last of
8352-651: The field of medicine . He was responsible for his contribution to the creation of vaccines against the Asian flu of 1957 , which broke out in Guizhou , and the Hong Kong flu of 1968 , contributing to the preparation and distribution of the vaccine doses that saved the world. He was responsible for the creation of vaccines against measles , mumps , hepatitis A , hepatitis B , chickenpox , Neisseria meningitidis , Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae . He
8468-508: The first major museum in the United States, the Peale Museum in Philadelphia, which housed the young nation's only collection of North American natural history specimens. Peale excavated the bones of an ancient mastodon near West Point, New York ; he spent three months assembling the skeleton, and then displayed it in his museum. The Peale Museum started an American tradition of making the knowledge of science interesting and available to
8584-606: The first phases of Operation Paperclip, these recruits mostly included aerospace engineers from the German V-2 combat rocket program, experts in aerospace medicine and synthetic fuels. Perhaps the most influential of these was Wernher Von Braun , who had worked on the Aggregate rockets (the first rocket program to reach outer space), and chief designer of the V-2 rocket program. Upon reaching American soil, Von Braun first worked on
8700-502: The first viable movie camera . Edison was not always the first to devise a scientific application, but he was frequently the one to bring an idea to a practical finish. For example, the British engineer Joseph Swan built an incandescent electric lamp in 1860, almost 20 years before Edison. But Edison's light bulbs lasted much longer than Swan's, and they could be turned on and off individually, while Swan's bulbs could be used only in
8816-405: The following years, the federal government supported the establishment of a national modern science and technology system, making America a world leader in science and technology. Part of America's past and current preeminence in applied science has been due to its vast research and development budget, which at $ 401.6bn in 2009 was more than double that of China's $ 154.1bn and over 25% greater than
8932-425: The foundations of the building were designed to accommodate substantial differential settling over any one wing in any one line or any one column. If differential settling continues, the supported structure will need to be jacked up and re-leveled. The facility was designed with the primary support columns outboard of the exterior walls so that the entire building can be jacked up a full floor level. During this process,
9048-408: The furnace lacked a chimney to "draw" fresh air up through the central chamber, the fire would soon go out. It took David R. Rittenhouse, another hero of early Philadelphia, to improve Franklin's design by adding an L-shaped exhaust pipe that drew air through the furnace and vented its smoke up and along the ceiling, then into an intramural chimney and out of the house. Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826),
9164-429: The general public. American political leaders' enthusiasm for knowledge also helped ensure a warm welcome for scientists from other countries. A notable early immigrant was the British chemist Joseph Priestley , who was driven from his homeland because of his dissenting politics. Priestley, who migrated to the United States in 1794, was the first of thousands of talented scientists drawn to the United States in search of
9280-666: The group were in the range −90 °F (−68 °C) to −99 °F (−73 °C), though as Siple points out, "even at −60 °F (−51 °C) I had seen men spitting blood because the capillaries of the bronchial tract frosted". On January 3, 1958, Sir Edmund Hillary 's team from New Zealand, part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition , reached the station over land from Scott Base , followed shortly by Sir Vivian Fuchs ' British scientific component. The buildings of Old Pole were assembled from prefabricated components delivered to
9396-650: The ideological Cold War to follow the importance of scientific strength in even peacetime applications became too much for the government to any more leave to philanthropy and private industry alone. This increased expenditure on scientific research and education propelled the United States to the forefront of the international scientific community—an amazing feat for a country which only a few decades before still had to send its most promising students to Europe for extensive scientific education. The first US commercial nuclear power plant started operation in Illinois in 1956. At
9512-562: The industry by bringing out the first comprehensive family of computers (the System/360 ). It caused many of their competitors to either merge or go bankrupt, leaving IBM in an even more dominant position. IBM is known for its many inventions like the floppy disk , introduced in 1971, supermarket checkout products, and introduced in 1973, the IBM 3614 Consumer Transaction Facility, an early form of today's Automatic Teller Machines . In 1983,
9628-566: The inflow of foreign technologies. During the 19th century, Britain , France , and Germany were at the forefront of new ideas in science and mathematics. But if the United States lagged behind in the formulation of theory, it excelled in using theory to solve problems: applied science . This tradition had been born of necessity. Because Americans lived so far from the well-springs of Western science and manufacturing, they often had to figure out their own ways of doing things. When Americans combined theoretical knowledge with " Yankee ingenuity ",
9744-661: The influx of European intellectuals fleeing the growing conflagration sparked by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Europe. During these crucial years, a number of the most prominent European scientists, especially physicists, immigrated to the United States, where they would do much of their most important work; these included Hans Bethe , Albert Einstein , Enrico Fermi , Leó Szilárd , Edward Teller , Felix Bloch , Emilio Segrè , John von Neumann , and Eugene Wigner , among many, many others. American academics worked hard to find positions at laboratories and universities for their European colleagues. After German physicists split
9860-550: The initiative and convinced President Franklin D. Roosevelt to pursue the pivotal Manhattan Project . Many physicists instrumental to the project were also European immigrants, such as the Hungarian Edward Teller , "father of the hydrogen bomb," and German Nobel laureate Hans Bethe . Their scientific contributions, combined with Allied resources and facilities helped establish the United States during World War II as an unrivaled scientific juggernaut. In fact,
9976-501: The intelligentsia - exacerbating human capital flight in the GDR to the benefit of Western countries, including the United States. Technology inflows from abroad have played an important role in the development of the United States, especially in the late nineteenth century. A favorable U.S. security environment that allowed relatively low defense spending. High trade barriers encouraged the development of domestic manufacturing industries and
10092-559: The larger population, the data items to be collected, the Census Bureau headcount, the scheduled publications, and the use of Hollerith's electromechanical tabulators, was to reduce the time required to process the census from eight years for the 1880 census to six years for the 1890 census . That kick started The Tabulating Machine Company . By the 1960s, the company name had been changed to International Business Machines, and IBM dominated business computing. IBM revolutionized
10208-574: The mid-to late sixties resulted in the first crewed landing on the Moon, the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. In the post-war era, the U.S. was left in a position of unchallenged scientific leadership, being one of the few industrial countries not ravaged by war. Additionally, science and technology were seen to have greatly added to the Allied war victory, and were seen as absolutely crucial in the Cold War era. This enthusiasm simultaneously rejuvenated American industry, and celebrated Yankee ingenuity, instilling
10324-591: The natural historian Charles Willson Peale . During the American Revolution , Rittenhouse helped design the defenses of Philadelphia and built telescopes and navigation instruments for the United States' military services. After the war, Rittenhouse designed road and canal systems for the state of Pennsylvania . He later returned to studying the stars and planets and gained a worldwide reputation in that field. As United States Surgeon General , Benjamin Rush saved countless lives of soldiers during
10440-581: The past 80 years, the United States has been integral in fundamental advances in telecommunications and technology. For example, AT&T's Bell Laboratories spearheaded the American technological revolution with a series of inventions including the first practical light emitted diode ( LED ), the transistor , the C programming language , and the Unix computer operating system. SRI International and Xerox PARC in Silicon Valley helped give birth to
10556-445: The perceived superstitions of the past, instead chose to emphasize the intellectual, scientific and cultural life, centered upon the 18th century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source for legitimacy and authority. Enlightenment philosophers envisioned a "republic of science," where ideas would be exchanged freely and useful knowledge would improve the lot of all citizens. The United States Constitution itself reflects
10672-542: The pole. In 1999, CBS News correspondent Jerry Bowen reported on camera in a talkback with anchors from the Saturday edition of CBS This Morning . In 1999, the winter-over physician, Jerri Nielsen , found that she had breast cancer . She had to rely on self-administered chemotherapy , using supplies from a daring July cargo drop, then was picked up in an equally dangerous mid-October landing. On May 11, 2000, astrophysicist Rodney Marks became ill while walking between
10788-485: The remote observatory and the base. He became increasingly sick over 36 hours, three times returning increasingly distressed to the station's doctor. Advice was sought by satellite, but Marks died on May 12, 2000, with his condition undiagnosed. The National Science Foundation issued a statement that Rodney Marks had "apparently died of natural causes, but the specific cause of death had yet to be determined". The exact cause of Marks' death could not be determined until his body
10904-476: The research facilities in the U.S. were second to none, and scientists were drawn to the U.S. for this reason alone. The changing pattern can be seen in the winners of the Nobel Prize in physics and chemistry. During the first half-century of Nobel Prizes – from 1901 to 1950 – American winners were in a distinct minority in the science categories. Since 1950, Americans have won approximately half of
11020-400: The result was a flow of important inventions. The great American inventors include Robert Fulton (the steamboat ); Samuel Morse (the telegraph ); Eli Whitney (the cotton gin ); Cyrus McCormick (the reaper ); and Thomas Alva Edison , with more than a thousand inventions credited to his name. His research laboratory developed the phonograph , the first long-lasting light bulb , and
11136-684: The six-month "day", the angle of elevation of the Sun above the horizon varies incrementally. The Sun reaches a rising position throughout the September equinox , and then it is apparent highest at the December solstice which is summer solstice for the south, setting on the March equinox . During the six-month polar night, air temperatures can drop below −73 °C (−99 °F) and blizzards are more frequent. Between these storms, and regardless of
11252-549: The station population is almost totally isolated. The station is completely self-sufficient during the winter, and powered by three generators running on JP-8 jet fuel. An annual tradition is a back-to-back-to-back viewing of The Thing from Another World (1951) , The Thing (1982) , and The Thing (2011) after the last flight has left for the winter. Research at the station includes glaciology , geophysics , meteorology , upper atmosphere physics , astronomy , astrophysics , and biomedical studies. In recent years, most of
11368-464: The station's scientific data as well as provide broadband internet and telecommunications access. Only during the main satellite events is the station's telephone system able to dial out. The commercial Iridium satellite is used when the TDRS and DSCS satellites are all out of range to give the station limited communications capability during those times. During those times, telephone calls may only be made on several Iridium satellite telephone sets owned by
11484-617: The station. The station's IT system also has a limited data uplink over the Iridium network, which allows emails less than 100 KB to be sent and received at all times and small critical data files to be transmitted. This uplink works by bonding the data stream over 12 voice channels. Non-commercial and non-military communication has been provided by amateur ham radio using primarily HF SSB links today but Morse code and other modes have been used, partly in experiments and mainly in bolstering esprit de corps and hobby-type uses. The USA sector has
11600-497: The time, the future for nuclear energy in the United States looked bright. But opponents criticized the safety of power plants and questioned whether safe disposal of nuclear waste could be assured. A 1979 accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania turned many Americans against nuclear power. The cost of building a nuclear power plant escalated, and other, more economical sources of power began to look more appealing. During
11716-461: The total weight of the building material being 24,000,000 pounds (11,000,000 kg). The new station included a modular design, to accommodate rises in population, and an adjustable elevation to prevent it from being buried in snow. Since roughly 8 inches (20 cm) of snow accumulates every year without ever thawing, the building's designers included rounded corners and edges around the structure to help reduce snow drifts. The building faces into
11832-517: The weather for wavelengths unaffected by drifting snow, the roughly 5 + 3 ⁄ 4 months of ample darkness and dry atmosphere make the station an excellent site for astronomical observations . The number of scientific researchers and members of the support staff housed at the Amundsen–Scott Station has always varied seasonally, with a peak population of around 150 in the summer operational season from October to February. In recent years
11948-415: The wind with a sloping lower portion of wall. The angled wall increases the wind speed as it flows under the buildings, and passes above the snow-pack, causing the snow to be scoured away. This prevents the building from being quickly buried. Wind tunnel tests show that scouring will continue to occur until the snow level reaches the second floor. Because snow gradually settles over time under its own weight,
12064-612: The winter scientists have worked for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory or for low-frequency astronomy experiments such as the South Pole Telescope and BICEP2 . The low temperature and low moisture content of the polar air, combined with the altitude of over 9,000 feet (2,700 m), causes the air to be far more transparent on some frequencies than is typical elsewhere, and the months of darkness permit sensitive equipment to run constantly. There
12180-469: The winter-over communications technician fell ill and was diagnosed with appendicitis . An emergency open appendectomy was performed by the station doctors with several winter-overs assisting during the surgery. The 2011 BBC TV programme Frozen Planet discusses the base and shows footage of the inside and outside of the elevated station in the "Last Frontier Episode". During the 2011 winter-over season, station manager Renee-Nicole Douceur experienced
12296-468: The wintertime population has been around 50 people. The original South Pole station is now referred to as "Old Pole". The station was constructed by U.S. Navy Seabees led by LTJG Richard Bowers, the eight-man Advance Party being transported by the VX-6 Air Squadron in two R4Ds on November 20, 1956. The U.S. Eighteenth Air Force 's C-124 Globemaster IIs airdropped most of
12412-416: The world's pre-eminent satellite navigation system. Interplanetary probes and space telescopes began a golden age of planetary science and advanced a wide variety of astronomical work. On April 20, 2021, MOXIE produced oxygen from Martian atmospheric carbon dioxide using solid oxide electrolysis , the first experimental extraction of a natural resource from another planet for human use. In 2024,
12528-722: Was abandoned in 1975 and became deeply buried, with the pressure causing the mostly wooden roof to cave in. The station was demolished in December ;2010, after an equipment operator fell through the structure doing snow stability testing for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The area was being vetted for use as a campground for NGO guests. The station was moved in 1975 to the newly constructed Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome 160 feet (50 m) wide by 52 feet (16 m) high, with 46 by 79 feet (14 m × 24 m) steel archways. One served as
12644-630: Was among the most influential leaders in early America; during the American Revolutionary War (1775–83), Jefferson served in the Virginia legislature, the Continental Congress , was governor of Virginia, later serving as U.S. minister to France, U.S. secretary of state, vice president under John Adams (1735–1826), writer of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president. During Jefferson's two terms in office (1801–1809),
12760-510: Was at each end. Although heated, the heat was not sufficient to keep them habitable during the winter. After several burned during the 1976–1977 summer, the construction camp was abandoned and later removed. However, in the 1981–1982 season, extra civilian seasonal personnel were housed in a group of Jamesways known as the "summer camp". Initially consisting of only two huts, the camp grew to 11 huts housing about 10 people each, plus two recreational huts with bathroom and gym facilities. In addition,
12876-843: Was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by the US Army for his important work. [1] . As of 2000, for-profit industry funded 57%, non-profit private organizations such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute funded 7%, and the tax-funded National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded 36% of medical research in the United States. However, by 2003, the NIH funded only 28% of medical research funding; funding by private industry increased 102% from 1994 to 2003. The NIH consists of 24 separate institutes in Bethesda, Maryland . The goal of NIH research
12992-444: Was built and has been rebuilt, expanded, and upgraded several times. The station is the only inhabited place on the surface of the Earth from which the Sun is continuously visible for six months; it is then continuously dark for the next six months, with approximately two days of averaged dark and light, twilight, namely the equinoxes. These are, in observational terms, called one extremely long "day" and one equally long "night". During
13108-534: Was dedicated in 1995. The importance of these projects changed the priorities in station operation, increasing the status of scientific cargo and personnel. The 1998–1999 summer season was the last year that VXE-6 with its Lockheed LC-130s serviced the U.S. Antarctic Program. Beginning in 1999–2000, the New York Air National Guard 109th Airlift Wing took responsibility for the daily cargo and passenger flights between McMurdo Station and
13224-419: Was removed from Amundsen–Scott Station and flown off Antarctica for an autopsy . Marks' death was due to methanol poisoning, and the case received media attention as the "first South Pole murder", although there is no evidence that Marks died as the result of the act of another person. On 26 April 2001, Kenn Borek Air used a DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft to rescue Dr. Ronald Shemenski from Amundsen–Scott. This
13340-651: Was the first Eagle Scout selected for an Antarctic expedition, sailing with Richard E. Byrd on his ship the City of New York . Siple appeared in the documentary film With Byrd at the South Pole (1930). He became a brother of the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity while attending Allegheny College , in Meadville, Pennsylvania . He married Ruth Ida Johannesmeyer on December 19, 1936. He also attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts , from which he received
13456-508: Was the first ever rescue from the South Pole during polar winter. To achieve the range necessary for this flight, the Twin Otter was equipped with a special ferry tank . In January 2007, the station was visited by a group of high-level Russian officials, including FSB chiefs Nikolai Patrushev and Vladimir Pronichev . The expedition, led by polar explorer Artur Chilingarov , started from Chile on two Mi-8 helicopters and landed at
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