Antarctica Amazing

Eastern Antarctica is to the right of the Transantarctic Mountains and Western Antarctica is to the left.
Via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica

Many teams from around the world are conducting science on the enormous fresh water ice dominated & least populated continent, Antarctica! 

Many research & weather stations that were constructed during the 20th century are abandoned, canceled, defunded, lost, or not operational. Currently active stations are maintained by ~30 countries. The NSF or US National Science Foundation funds a lot of the research. With storms as powerful as 220 mph (354 kph) winds with temperatures as low as -70 F (-56 C) & dusty fine snow being forcefully blown with such energy that it can shove massive amounts snow & ice through tiny gaps in windows & doorways of buildings & structures.

Some of the stations are built on elevated reinforced metal platforms, kinda like an oil rig in the ocean, since the ice beneath them changes dynamically throughout the seasons & year to year. Others stations are built upon strong pilings driven deep into more stabile areas, rock or exposed mantel surface structures. Its costly & complicate to do any construction as everything has to be shipped or flow in & virtually nothing is locally manufactured, except spares & repairs made from lumber, wiring, bar stock, fabricated locally using power tools, the electricity made using combustion fueled generators, with diesel fuel stored in giant metal tanks that have to last nearly an entire year. Welding & fabricating jobs are essential to repairs & maintenance, as are electrical service & HVAC, and vehicle mechanics.

The dry valley in Antarctica is the quietest place on Earth with conditions that are most similar to Mars, with record low temperatures around −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F. If the fresh water ice in Antarctica melted, that would cause sea levels to rise 200 feet or 60 meters! A polar desert environment with very high altitudes, up to 8 inches of rain fall (200 mm) near the coasts, with far less rainfall further inland.

During Russian expeditions in the early 19th century, the ice shelfs were discovered. By the early 20th century a few international teams made expeditions to the interior. The 1959 Antarctic Treat System binds together ~30 different counties that agree not to mine, engage in military activity, perform nuclear weapons testing, store nuclear waste, engage in oil exploration or drilling & to the other restrictions described in the treaty.

Wintering 5x less popular than working there only during the summer between October & March, as the winter temperatures tend to be far colder, storms more powerful, & access to & from the rest of the world extremely limited or impossible during the winter months. Many ship & aircraft accidents have happened during the winter, and in all but the most rare of circumstances helicopter's only fly during clear weather during the summer months. It can warm to as high as 50 F (10 C) on some summer days.

Most human activity directly related to science, the acquisition of knowledge, & all of the logistics required to fuel, feed, provide potable water, heating, deicing, fixing & maintaining equipment & infrastructure, hauling away human waste, garbage, sorted recycling & machines or equipment beyond the scope of local repairs. Much of the summer time activity spent bringing in 10,000 tones of supplies & loading up the supply ships with outbound waste, recyclables & other stuff. The human population swells to ~5000 people during summer months & declines to around 1000 people during the winter.

Not everyone in Antarctica a scientist or technical person, there are mechanics, store employees, accountants, management, logistics, support, fire fighters, and many other non-highly specific technical or scientific jobs. High-speed internet & TV are available on most bases, but the bases are all very unique. Most wealthy industrialized nations have a base somewhere around the border of Antarctica. The United Kingdom or the UK maintains the most active bases & has the most canceled or non operational bases.

Airport maintenance consists of spraying down the ice to make an ice runway, the United States Airfare operates aircraft routes to shuttle people too & from. If you decide to work in Antarctica remember that you will be spending a lot of time, 6 day work weeks, indoors. Much of your down time will consist of weather conditions in sub freezing temperatures where going outside requires gearing up a lot! Make sure to keep track of the difference between your pee bottle & your water bottle.

The local sky views of outer space unmatched given the lack of cloud cover, persistent darkness for months at a time, high altitude & relatively dry interior conditions, where it also happen to be the most silent place on Earth! I am talking about bright starlight visible conditions that make it possible to see celestial objects & phenomena unlike anywhere else on Earth. The weather, sky solar wind ionization lighting & cloudscapes are of unmatched beauty & amazing. People have profound life altering experiences viewing these phenomena that can only be experienced directly by living in Antartica. 

You can learn a lot about what I am talking about here in this cool documentary film called "Antarctica A Year on Ice", by Anthony Powell, a satellite technician & photographer from New Zealand. It features his fellow sat. tech. Andrew who I find highly likable after watching this film twice! You get to see the people having fun with each other, a spirit of adventure persists among people who choose & are lucky enough to work in Antarctica. Its not everyones cup of tea, you have to have a "Die Hard" personality & get along well with other people; a non conflict seeking personality of social intelligence, respect, honor & treat other people with tolerance & dignity.

If you choose to winter there, you have no idea who you will end up bunking with, so its a mixed bag with respect to who might be assigned as your roommate. Fresh fruits & vegetables are a rare seasonal luxury when the supply ships arrive at the start of each summer season. Sadly, the lack of facilities mean that fresh perishables like milk & cream are only available for a short interval during the summer right after a resupply. People working at the stations start to dream of avocado, coffee with fresh milk or cream, broccoli or apples or carrots or pears or fresh salad greens after such things are no long available, and remain unavailable for the rest of the year until the next years resupply ships arrive. 

Name Antarctica originates from Middle French "Antartique" (opposite Arctic) & Latin "Antarcticus" (opposite North), further derived from Greek (anti-of the Bear) Aristotle wrote about an Antarctic Region in his book Meteorology 350 BCE. It was widely believed as an intellectual concept by Europeans prior to its discovery that a vast far south continent existed to balance the northern lands. 

It took until January 27th 1820 for Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen to spot the tip (~20 miles or 32 kilometers of Queen Maud's Land) of an ice shelf (69°21′28″S 2°14′50″W) of the Antarctic peninsula, while sailing an exploratory expedition with Mikhail Lazarev on a 985-ton sloop-of-war Vostok ship, its 530-ton supply ship Mirny following behind. During an 1838-39 expedition, American Charles Wilkes first to claim discovery of the continent. Mercator Cooper an American explorer landed Jan. 26th 1853 on East Antarctica. The first continental mass landing accomplished 1895 when the Norwegian-Swedish "Antarctic" ship reach Cape Adare.

The US Navy reached the South Pole when they landed aircraft October 31st 1965. In 1969 a publicity stunt accomplished by flying six women to the South Pole. Borge Ousland the 1st person to cross Antarctica alone from coast to coast, during the summer of 1996-97, & he holds the world record for the fastest journey (34 days) to the South Pole.