What's New
The What's New page covers items that may be of current interest to members. It also includes an annotated log of things that have been added or changed in the website. Now you can easily check the dates of the items listed to determine what is new since your last visit. This page will also feature Announcements and Events of interest when those are appropriate.
"Mining for Cold, Hard Facts"
The May 29, 2010 online issue of the Wall Street Journal contains an excellent article on the key role that Antarctic ice cores are playing in determining the historical facts of climate change. This is a good overview of how this is done. To read the article click HERE
THE SOUTH POLE STATION GEODESIC DOME IS SAVED!
The iconic Dome covering Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station II from 1975-2005 has been successfully disassembled, packed, and shipped to Port Hueneme, CA for storage there. The original plan was to save only the top few rows of panels for the SeaBee museum taking shape at Port Hueneme and scrap the rest. It was thought that the cost and time needed to carefully disassemble the Dome was going to be prohibitive. As it turned out, the job was completed within budget and was actually finished one week ahead of schedule. It is an interesting story that we hope to document more fully in a future article.
Now a longer term plan will be developed to find an appropriate location where the Dome might be reassembled so that future generations will be able to see and appreciate this unique piece of Antarctic history.
See the official NSF press release and photos of the deconstruction of the Dome by clicking HERE and read a followup article on the Dome in the Antarctic Sun online journal HERE.
Thank you to all of those Society members and others who sent emails and letters of support to help save the Dome. They made a difference.
NOTICE FOR CIRCUMPOLAR REMOTE SENSING SYMPOSIUM
SEPTEMBER 2010
The Circumpolar Remote Sensing Symposium will be held in September 2010 in Cambridge, UK. This year’s venue for the symposium will be the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. The symposium will deal specifically with remote sensing applications in the polar environments, both Arctic and Antarctic. It will provide an international forum for the discussion of work currently being carried out in the circumpolar regions.
For additional details see http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/geography/CRSS2010/index.html
Questions, Contact:
Greg Durocher
U. S. Geological Survey
Alaska Science Center - ESIC
gfdurocher@usgs.gov
SCOTT BASE GOES GREEN
New Zealand's Scott Base on Ross Island has reduced the power generated from fossil fuel needed to operate the base by turning to wind turbines. Read the story from the Christchurch Press (courtesy of Margaret Lanyon) HERE. A 2008 article in the Antarctic Sun about this clean power project may be found by clicking HERE.
WEBSITE SURVEY RESULTS
Earlier this year, an online survey questionaire was posted and members were solicited to express their opinions and suggestions about the Antarctican Society website. 29 members responded. These results will be very useful to the webmaster in addressing deficiencies and improving things that you like. Click HERE to read the detailed results.
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY DVD SET !
The Antarctican Society is proud to announce that we are offering a wonderful set of three DVDs commemorating our existence of over fifty years as a not-for-profit education society by and for Antarcticans. . This was all made possible through months and months of dedicated services by one of our own members, Dr. Edwin Williams of Roanoke, Virginia. He has produced three separate DVDs, each of slightly over two hours duration in which thirty prominent Antarcticans from the past fifty years have come before the camera and told of involvement in the Antarctic. For more information click HERE.
DR. JERRI NIELSEN SUCCUMBS TO CANCER
Dr. Jerri Nielsen Fitzgerald, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station 1999 winterover physician, lost a lenghty battle with cancer on June 23. Her ordeal began during the winter at Pole when she discovered a lump in her breast. The ensuing rescue from Pole several weeks before normal station opening became the subject of a book that she authored and a television drama. Click HERE to read the tribute in The Antarctic Sun.
SCOTT POLAR RESEARCH INSTITUTE LAUNCHES FREEZE FRAME
The Scott Polar Research Institute has digitized its huge inventory of historical photography dating from 1845-1982 and put it all on line. They have created a separate website called Freeze Frame where you can search, peruse and purchase photographs in this collection of more than 20,000 items. It is well worth your time to explore this terrific resource. The website is www.freezeframe.ac.uk/home/home. The website was recently reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, which you can read HERE.
THE ANTARCTICAN SOCIETY OFFERS SLIDE SCANNING!
The Antarctican Society is now offering a free slide scanning service to its members! For the cost of certified shipping, any member can now submit an unlimited number of their Antarctic-related slides for conversion to digital form. The scanning is being done using a top-quality Nikon scanner. The only requirements are that the member indicate a date and location for each slide and grant the Society non-exclusive use of the resulting digital images for its website and Society publications. The member retains their copyright and will be credited for any use of the images. For more information on this exciting new service click HERE.
WEBSITE CHANGES
Change Date |
Description |
| 30-Jun-10 | Added 64 images to Time Trek from 1959-63 |
| 12-Jun-10 | Released Time Trek Version 2.1 and added 100 new events |
| 31-May-10 | Added 'An Afternoon with Norman Vaughn' audio |
| 27-May-10 | Added 'Antarctic Traverse Adventures 1959-61' video |
| 09-May-10 | Added Navy narrative logs from McMurdo and South Pole Stations 1955-57 |
| 26-Mar-10 | Added 66 images to Time Trek from 1958-61 |
| 07-Feb-10 | Added 65 images to Time Trek from 1949-51 |
| 16-Jan-10 | Added link under Pack Ice to the remarkable story of Dr. Vladislav Rogozov's auto-appendectomy in 1961 |
| 11-Jan-10 | Added video My Year at Hallett Station 1960-61 by Joseph A. Kelly, MD |
| 07-Dec-09 | Added Antarctic Recollection memoir by Art Jorgensen, South Pole Station 1957-58 |
| 03-Dec-09 | Added December 2009 Newsletter |
| 14-Nov-09 | Updated Time Trek User Guide |
| 08-Oct-09 | Added October 2009 Newsletter |
| 18-Sep-09 | Updated Time Trek to Version 2.0 |
| 15-Sep-09 | Added tourism article to Pack Ice |
| 13-Sep-09 | Added video of Amory Waite presentation on BAE II to Pack Ice |
| 12-Sep-09 | Posted Website Survey results |
| 22-Aug-09 | Added video "The Great Sledge Journey of 1929" to Pack Ice Video and Audio |
| 01-Aug-09 | Added 78 new images to Time Trek |
| 30-Jun-09 | Added The South Pole Winter Experience to Pack Ice |
| 27-Jun-09 | Added videos of IGY rescue stories |
| 17-Jun-09 | Added June 2009 Newsletter |
| 01-Jun-09 | Replaced Members List page with Members Info page |
| 30-May-09 | Added lightbox effect to display of images |
| 05-Apr-09 | Added April 2009 Newsletter |
| 05-Apr-09 | Upgraded Time Trek to Version 1.1 |
| 14-Mar-09 | Added BBC audio program on Operation Taliban, a war-inspired British expedition in 1943. See Video and Audio page. |
| 11-Mar-09 | Added audio recording by Sir Earnest Shackleton about his 1907-09 Nimrod Expedition. See Pack Ice. |
| 28-Feb-09 | Added the first video to the website: "The International Geophysical Year 1957" by Ralph Glasgal. See Pack Ice. |
| 31-Dec-08 | Added page on new slide scanning service for members |
| 13-Dec-08 | Added December 2008 Newsletter |
| 14-Nov-08 | Removed the separate login requirement for members to post and reply to messages on the Antarctican Society Forums |
| 11-Oct-08 | Modified look and feel by centering pages in browser window, adding pack ice image in background, changing color of links when cursor hovers. |
| 29-Sep-08 | Added 34 additional covers to the Dalrymple collection in the Philatelic Corner |
| 18-Sep-08 | Added Newsletter Volume 08-09 September No. 1 to Newsletters page under Members. |
| 12-Sep-08 | Made the banner at the top of each page clickable to return to the Home Page. Simply click anywhere in the banner and you will be brought back to the Home Page. |
| 10-Sep-08 | Added 2007-2008 Norwegian-U.S. East Antarctica Traverse to Time Trek. |
| 10-Sep-08 | Added July, 2008 IGY Gathering at Port Clyde, Maine to Pack Ice. |
| 09-Sep-08 | Added the Philatelic Corner page under Mail Bag. The initial contribution is a spectacular collection of covers and cachets from the IGY. Don't miss it! |
| 09-Sep-08 | Added to the Mail Bag a recent letter from the Balchen family vigorously objecting to the portrayal of Bernt Balchen in the newly published biography of Admiral Richard E. Byrd by Lisle Rose. |
| 24-Aug-08 | Completed the Obituaries database in the Members page. 77 obituaries that have appeared in the Newsletters are now referenced in the Obituaries table. |
| 18-Aug-08 | Added USGS Open-File Report 2006-1116 by Tony Meunier to Pack Ice. This report compiles a record of all USGS participants and projects in the history of the Antarctic Program, as well as the official cachets of each project. |
| 17-Aug-08 | Added Finne Ronne Expedition to Time Trek |
| 14-Aug-08 | Added Ralph Glasgal's excellent presentation on the IGY construction and first year of Wilkes Station as a Time Trek Event for 1957-58. This is a compliment to Ralph's diary from that period, which is viewable under Memoirs and Diaries in Pack Ice.. |
| 11-Aug-08 | Added Ralph Glasgal's untranscribed diary from 1956-58, documenting the first year of Wilkes Station and his travels around the continent. See the new "Memoirs and Diaries" section of Pack Ice. |
| 02-Aug-08 | Completed Book Reviews in the Members area. There are now links to 111 reviews in the newsletters archive. |
| 29-Jul-08 | Added WorldMap graphic to the Time Trek page. The graphic depicts the locations of visitors to the Antarctican Society website and summarizes statistics about those visits. Click on the map to enlarge. The graphic is updated once each day. |
| 29-Jul-08 | Added "Mirny Diary" by Morton J. Rubin to the Pack Ice page. |
| 23-Jul-08 | Added more book reviews to Book Reviews in the Members area. |
| 07-Jul-08 | "Among the Magi" by Martin Sponholz added to the Pack Ice page. |
| 05-Jul-08 | The Arts Reviews, Book Reviews, and Obituaries pages were updated to add a substantial amount of new information. Links on these pages take the reader directly to the page of the Newsletter where the information is to be found. |
| 28-Jun-08 | "Collapse of the Wilkins Ice Shelf" and "Collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf" events were temporarily removed from Time Trek until a linking problem is resolved. |
| 28-Jun-08 | The Pack Ice page was added. This page is reserved for interesting and unique contributions that do not fit in other places on the website. |
| 24-Jun-08 | Time Trek Google Earth was modified to correct a problem with double labeling of Features. |
| 22-Jun-08 | "Solstice Memory: The Coldest Night" was added to the Home Page and as a supplement to the "South Pole Station Winterover" event of 1981-1982. |
| 22-Jun-08 | "Collapse of the Wilkins Ice Shelf" was moved from the Home Page to Time Trek as an event for 2007-2008. |
| 22-Jun-08 | "Collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf" was added to Time Trek as an event for 2001-2002. |
| 11-Jun-08 | The complete Time Trek application is finally available. Both the Static Map and Google Earth versions are now ready for use. |