McMurdo Station

McMurdo Station
Antarctic base
McMurdo Station from Observation Hill.
McMurdo Station Location of McMurdo Station in Antarctica
Coordinates: 77°51′S 166°40′E / 77.850°S 166.667°E / -77.850; 166.667Coordinates: 77°51′S 166°40′E / 77.850°S 166.667°E / -77.850; 166.667
Country	United States
Location in Antarctica	Ross Island, Ross Dependency; claimed by New Zealand.
Administered by	United States Antarctic Program via the National Science Foundation
Established	16 February 1956 (1956-02-16)
Named for	Archibald McMurdo
Population
• Total	Summer: 1,258 Winter: 250
Time zone	NZST (UTC+12)
• Summer (DST)	NZDST (UTC+13)
Type	All year-round
Period	Annual
Status	Operational
Facilities	More than 85 buildings with facilities that include: A harbor Landing strips Helicopter pad Repair facilities Dormitories Administrative buildings Firehouse Power plant Water distillation plant Wharf Stores Clubs Warehouses Crary Lab Above-ground water, sewer, telephone, and power lines Chapel of the Snows Interfaith Chapel Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center (aeronomy and astrophysics, biology and medicine, geology and geophysics, glaciology and glacial geology, and ocean and climate systems).
Website	www.nsf.gov

The McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic research center on the south tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program, a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is the largest community in Antarctica, capable of supporting up to 1,258 residents, and serves as one of three United States Antarctic science facilities. All personnel and cargo going to or coming from Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station first pass through McMurdo.

The station owes its designation to nearby McMurdo Sound, named after Lieutenant Archibald McMurdo of HMS Terror, which first charted the area in 1841 under the command of British explorer James Clark Ross. British explorer Robert Falcon Scott first established a base close to this spot in 1902 and built Discovery Hut, still standing adjacent to the harbour at Hut Point. The volcanic rock of the site is the southernmost bare ground accessible by ship in the Antarctic. The United States officially opened its first station at McMurdo on February 16, 1956. Founders initially called the station Naval Air Facility McMurdo. On November 28, 1957, Admiral George J. Dufek was present with a U.S. congressional delegation during a change of command ceremony.

McMurdo became the center of scientific and logistical operation during the International Geophysical Year, an international scientific effort that lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. The Antarctic Treaty, now signed by over forty-five governments, regulates intergovernmental relations with respect to Antarctica and governs the conduct of daily life at McMurdo for United States Antarctic Program (U.S.A.P.) participants. The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), was opened for signature on December 1, 1959, and officially entered into force on June 23, 1961.