Pole People
 Many of us brought cameras along to the sunrise party. Since it was cloudy, we turned the cameras on each other after the concert. Here's Ken G., Dave and Brad. 
Ken Barker, the night half of the USGS team, takes a break from the satellites.
No ice chests or refrigerators were required in skylab. If you took a beer at room 
On the fourth floor, Alex contemplates the infinitely expanding universe...(?) 
Bill K and John in the computer room. The terminal and printer are behind the speaker; the computer itself is behind Bill. Everyone had their own personal magnetic tapes.  Here's an earlier view of the 3 computers (the panels with many buttons). These were HP 4800 minicomputers with 64 or 32k memory, and they cost perhaps $50k each. Two of these were permanently involved with the UCD micrometeorology data collection project, but the third one was often available for text editing and typing message traffic and reports. We had a program that would convert the computer data to teletype code, and punch out the paper tape in comms to be sent out to the real world. I used this program to prepare the weekly sitreps. And we also had a text-based Star Trek game where we could shoot down Klingons. For those days we had an amazing amount of computer power available for personal use!  At right...a better front on photo of our high-powered computers...this photo was taken by Mike Savage during the 1980 winter. Further documentation...here's a December 1976 Antarctic Journal article describing the computer system and its architecture. Interestingly, I posted a copy of this article on the wall of the elevated station computer lab during my 2005 winter, I think it is still there. 
Denis in the dining room, taking a break before the crowd shows up for dinner.  On another night, Denis gets the main course ready as the crowds gather (Photo from Tadashi Yogi).  House mouse Fritz looks up from the sink full of dirty dishes... 
At right, a good picture found a bit more recently, this is our NOAA guy Brad Halter. He wintered again in 1986 and made other summer trips back to Pole since 1977, as well as Concordia (Dome C) and Summit Camp in Greenland. Hi Brad! In the background here you can see Dave and a bit of Tadashi, not to mention that Playboy bunny jigsaw puzzle on the wall. |