Palmer Station
This January 2010 view of the station was taken by Antarctic Sun editor Peter Rejcek (USAP photo library).
The 2011-12 summer season brings...an amazing trip by an autonomous underwater vehicle from Palmer to Rothera...not to mention a new contractor to replace Raytheon! (updates)
June 2011...midwinters week! 15 souls left who survived the best part of the year...
One item of interest...author Fen Montaigne spent 5 months in 2005-06 with Bill Fraser's penguin research team. The result is an amazing new book Fraser's Penguins! (author Fen's web site about the book).
As for the research vessel Hero, I now have a confirmed sighting in Willapa Bay, Washington, I've spoken to the new owner, and friends have taken photos, some of which are now here. Yes, the HERO is in good hands at the moment.
Doctor Matt Houseal, who spent 3 months here between September and December 1990...was murdered in Baghdad in early May 2009, one of 5 people shot by a fellow soldier. Matt left Palmer Station to go winter at Pole in 1991. A bit more news and info about Matt is here.
We thought the contract rebidding would be over BY NOW except for the award etc., but NSF has given it a SECOND one-year extension. Perhaps the contract will finally be awarded in 2011. In 1989 the bidders actually got to visit Palmer Station, but that hasn't happened since, all they got were Powerpoint presentations and videos. Here's my commentary on the Antarctic contract rebidding adventure.
25 January 2007...have to announce the death of long-time Antarctican and 1976 manager Larry Miyoda (obituary).
Don't miss Dave Gallas' incredible blow-by-blow eyewitness account of the 1989 Bahia episode!
The late Richie Skane was in the news...before Midwinters Day 2006, veteran science tech Glenn Grant gathered documentation to officially name a significant Antarctic feature (well, significant to us Palmer folks at least) named after Richie. And it happened! Follow the process here.
The 1999 and 2000 winters saw some major renovations of both the biolab main floor and GWR, including a new exterior back stairway on GWR, moving medical and other offices from Biolab to GWR, as well as moving the fire tank outside, to make more room inside Biolab for beakers or whatever. And the 2002 winter saw the massive complete reconstruction of the ground floor of Biolab, including all new labs, HVAC system and boiler, and consolidation (and firewalls/safety upgrades) of the mechanical spaces to make a science instrument lab in the old mechanical room.
What is going on at Palmer nowadays? After the 2005 winter construction of T6, things have been a bit quieter. The station science sitreps through 2006-07 were published here by the LTER people, nowadays with a new look (in MS Word, with photos); Woods Hole set up a webcam as part of their survey for their proposed/cancelled remote underwater observatory, and several years ago Glenn Grant documented the January 2004 collapse of the glacier behind OP between Arthur Harbor and Loudwater Cove, turning the area into Norsel Island, perhaps, but in 2007 it was named Amsler Island.
And more recently there is a USAP webcam installed in March 2010 on one of the antenna towers near the station.
| Updated 8 February 2012 | Visits since 11 March 2004: |