LC-130 Hercules aircraft parked at the south pole. As ordinary as this photo looks, it is quite a rare occurence to see these aircraft parked at the pole with their engines stopped. Like the Spryte, the engines are almost never shut off, and thus the aircraft only land temporarily and then return to McMurdo. This was possible the second time that anyone could remember the aircraft staying at the pole overnight (the weather in McMurdo prohibted them from returning). They did depart the following day without any problems.
After finshing our work at south pole, we went back to McMurdo briefly and then continued on to Vostok, a Russian station near the top of East Antarctic plateau (~11500 ft). One of the first deep ice cores was drilled here under Russian and French cooperation. It continues to be one of the most important records of earth's climate during the last few glacial/interglacial cycles. This is a view from behind the station. The ice core drill tower can be seen in the background. We stayed in the building on the far right with the raydome (inoperative) on the roof. In front is a World War II era tracked vehicle next to one of our skidoos.
This is the main building at Vostok station, where the kitchen, the galley and the station managers quarters are.
This is a view of the eating area from inside the same building. On the left, Blue is loading up with some of his favorite; radish and onion salad, fish soup, and macaroni.