National Geographic Special Collections: Archives & Film Preservation Blog

First Winter at the South Pole (1956-57)

The South Pole expedition was part of the International Geophysical Year.  Background on the IGY: 

“The International Geophysical Year [begins in July 1957] and lasts until December 1958. It is the third such 'international year,' following the International Polar Years of 1882-83 and 1932-33, but is being held sooner than the accustomed period of a half century because of rapid advances in scientific discovery and methodology. Coordinated by the International Council of Scientific Unions, five thousand scientists from around the world, including the U.S.S.R. and other Iron Curtain countries, begin intensive studies of every major land mass, ocean, and even the atmosphere out to the very edge of space. The idea is to coordinate a program of coordinated studies that might provide unprecedented data on the Earth considered as one functioning system. The National Academy of Sciences administers the U.S. effort, and a National Committee is established under the chairmanship of Dr. Joseph Kaplan…The IGY program concentrates on the equatorial belt and the Polar regions, especially Antarctica, where eleven nations set up research stations. The U.S. Antarctic projects are coordinated through the U.S. Navy as part of its 'Deep Freeze' operations, and Society Trustee Admiral Richard E. Byrd is in charge. After his death on March 3, 1957, however, he is succeeded by Rear Admiral George Dufek, [and] the main U.S. station is at the South Pole itself….To help Society members better follow the variety of Antarctic projects, the Cartographic Division produces a comprehensive map supplement of that continent, issued with the September 1957 issue. One of the magazine's staff photographers, Thomas J. Abercrombie, is inadvertently trapped with the U.S. scientists who are the first men ever to overwinter at the South Pole. And when the Antarctic projects are completed, the Society honors with Hubbard Medals Dr. Paul Siple, who led U.S. team at the South Pole station; the entire U.S. Navy Antarctic Expedition; and the entire British Trans-Antarctic Expedition as well.”  (Geopedia)

The “Amundsen-Scott IGY South Pole Station” was dedicated in January 1957.  The expedition for the “First Winter at the South Pole,” was led by Dr. Paul Siple, South Pole IGY Director for the National Academy of Sciences (and protégée of Admiral Richard E. Byrd who he accompanied on his previous four antarctic expeditions).  He was joined by 17 scientists (and one malamute-husky named Bravo) for a period of 10 months in an average temperature of -73 Fahrenheit.

The goal of the expedition was to gather as much scientific data as they could and to see if humans could live and work in the South Pole.  Meteorologists were the largest group of IGY scientists at the Antarctic.  The South Pole Station had a four-person weather team (Herbert L. Hansen and Edwin C. Flowers, John Guerrero, and Floyd Johnson) that worked 24/7 in two-person shifts.  They collected surface weather data as well as atmospheric data from weather balloons that were launched four times a day.

The crew at South Pole Station also dug a snow mine to conduct glacier studies.  The tunnel was 270 feet long, 90 feet deep, 6 to 11 feet wide, and 7 to 20 feet hight. Temperature inside stood a steady -60F.  Glaciologist, E.W. Remington, looked at layers of the snow and ice to study the icecap’s history - how much the icecap grows in a year and how much it has grown over the centuries.  Seismographic tests as well as geomagnetic tests were also performed in the tunnel.  Seismologist, Robert F. Benson, placed a seismometer in the snow mine in order to record any activity at the South Pole Station.  The first seismic test revealed 8,300 feet of ice and 900 feet of rock above sea level.

The ionosphere (the electrically charged region of the atmosphere 50 to 250 miles high) was another area of focus. It was believed that the sun’s radiation energized the ionosphere, but the South Pole Station tests showed that ionization remained high all winter with no sunlight.  This corroborated the theory that there must be a secondary ionizing agent related to the earth’s magnetic field.

One of the major discoveries during this expedition was made by Dr. Siple and Lt. John Tuck, Jr., head of the military unit of the Amundsen-Scott station.  They calculated the geographic location of the South Pole (where the southern end of the Earth’s axis emerges) by plotting the coordinates of stars with a theodolite (within a probably error of 100 feet in any direction).  To mark the spot, they raised a flagpole and a created a ring around it with empty oil drums.  “By setting them in a 200-foot-wide circle, [they] would enclose not only the geographic South Pole but the wandering ‘spin pole’ of the earth as well.  Bravo was the first to reach the red trail flag that marked the Pole.  In fact, he made three trips around the world before [they] arrived.” (NGM April 1958: 445)

Also noteworthy - During the IGY, NGS photographer, Thomas J. Abercrombie, won a lottery for a seat on a supply plane headed for the Amundsen-Scott base, and he became the first civilian to set foot on the South Pole Station.

For more information on the South Pole Station and the first winter there, please read:

“To the Men at the South Pole Station” by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd and “We are Living at the South Pole by Paul A. Siple, both in the July 1957 NGM; and “Man’s First Winter at the South Pole” by Paul A. Siple in the April 1958 NGM.

Bonus clip, Bravo highlights:

(Narration in clips by Paul A. Siple, from his lecture, "Winter at South Pole,” to members of the Society on March 28, 1958)