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The most intriguing American outpost is at the pole itself. Located under a giant geodesic dome, the station serves as an invaluable high-altitude (9,200 ft.) geophysical observatory. Because of the pristine quality of the air and the funnel-like shape of the earth's magnetic field at the antipodes, scientists are able to measure the amount of carbon dioxide and pollutants in the atmosphere and register the influx of cosmic rays from space (a hint of solar activity) with much greater ease than at any other place on the earth's surface. The station also acts as a laboratory for the study of human behavior in isolation. Last week the season's final flight took off from the pole. Left behind until November, when flights resume, were 17 people, including one visiting Soviet scientist, an atmospheric physicist. During the long polar night, radio will be their only contact with the outside world.
Though information gathered at the polar station is scientifically valuable and could even help doctors select and prepare the best possible crews for long space journeys, the reason for the American presence at the pole is as much geopolitical as geophysical. It gives the U.S. a unique toehold in all the Antarctic claims except the Norwegian, which stops short of the pole proper. Says Bernhard Lettau, polar oceanography manager for the National Science Foundation, which runs the U.S.'s $67.4 million-a-year Antarctic scientific effort: "The pole is highly symbolic. By being here we maintain our status as first among equals of the treaty nations and prevent the Soviets from grabbing our base."
That does not seem likely for the moment. But like other government agencies, NSF has been struck by the budget ax; for fiscal 1982, the Antarctic program has been effectively cut by 10%, curtailing scientific activity and delaying needed repairs at McMurdo. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union continues to expand its operations on the ice, with a total of seven research bases strategically scattered over nearly all of the claimed pie slices.
This disturbs U.S. officials. Says NSF Chief Polar Scientist Frank Williamson: "You can't tell me that a continent that occupies the whole bottom of the world isn't valuable. But our current investment here consists of six airplanes, seven helicopters and just over 1,000 people. It's minuscule compared to what we might be able to gain." From all the hints the Antarctic is giving, the list of possible gains is likely to keep growing. —By Frederic Golden. Reportedby David DeVoss/McMurdo Sound