 In October 1956, a ski-equipped aircraft landed at the Pole. Personnel of the United States Navy were there to survey the site in preparation for the establishment of a research station, one of many planned for the International Geophysical Year (1957-58). Construction of a station at the South Pole was completed in 1957. An eighteen-man crew remained for the winter, the first of the winter-over parties which have continuously occupied Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. (Admiral R .E. Byrd was by then the director of the U.S. Antarctic Program). Each year the United States sends about 650 people to Antarctica to perform scientific research, and about 2,500 people to operate and maintain year-round research stations, and provide support for this research. The U.S. maintains three camps, including the continent's largest, McMurdo Station. Many other countries also maintain stations on the continent; some of them are shown on the map below.  People in Antarctica include research teams from universities, industry, and government, military personnel, and employees of various contractors . Support positions include everything that is required to operate a small town, including helicopter crews, construction, food service, janitorial, lab technicians, waste management, general assistants, and many more. Most of the scientists and support workers are in Antarctica during summer, which runs from October to March. During the isolated winter, the population drops to less than a quarter of what it is in summer. Our Contacts in Antarctica: In the early 2000's I reached out to some scientists at one of Antarctica's research stations who had expressed a willingness to share their experiences with schools. Through email, I received a lot of information from a number of them, which I shared on this page. A communications specialist working out of McMurdo Station, Bruce Blackburn, has sent us some fascinating information about conditions in Antarctica where he works, and a few details about his job. Below are some photos of McMurdo; that's Bruce in the first picture. 
 A teacher involved with an Antarctic project, Jason Petula, also corresponded with us. He too is working in McMurdo, and was about to leave for the South Pole. His letter tells us what it's like to be newly arrived in Antarctica. Henry Banon is a Communications Technical Officer at Australia's Casey Station, where he has been working for the past year; he was kind enough to send us his thoughtful impressions of life and work in an environment where the temperature with wind chill can drop to -70°C., and the winds can reach 200km/h. For some truly fascinating first-hand reports of life at the South Pole, you can read letters sent to us from these people here. 
 
 
 
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