The new facility replaced the iconic domed station built in 1975, and the dedication marked two historic occasions: the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), and the mid-point of International Polar Year 2007-2008, a global scientific field campaign, which that was going on a half-century after the 1957 International Geophysical Year (IGY), when the first scientists took up residence in the very first South Pole station.

The new $153 million Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is a technological and engineering marvel designed to support an array of scientific investigations, from astrophysics to seismology, while accommodating harsh conditions on the polar plateau. It will house more than 20 times as many people as stood at the Pole with Amundsen—or his British rival Robert F. Scott—and at a level of comfort, safety and connectedness to the outside world that would have been almost inconceivable to the explorers for whom the station is named.

The designers of the new station faced innumerable unique obstacles.

One of the most daunting is snow cover. Eight inches of snow accumulate every year, without ever melting, in an environment that routinely sees zero humidity and temperatures of minus 73 Celsius (-100° F). Winds create snowdrifts that inevitably bury low-lying buildings in months. The current station is constructed beneath a 50-meter diameter geodesic dome that is largely covered in the austral winter. So every year, bulldozer crews spend the summer excavating the dome. To avoid a "bowl effect" of snow buildup in the surrounding area, crews now have to push the snow nearly a mile away, expending precious fuel.

To meet the challenge of drifting snow, the new station is designed with the profile of a sleek airplane wing. It is elevated and faces into the prevailing near-constant 10 to 15 mph wind, which flows above and below the station. The fast-moving winds beneath the station effectively help scour the area of snow, thereby greatly reducing the need for manual excavation. However, because some snow buildup is inevitable, the building also sits on 36 uniquely designed hydraulic jack columns that allow the 65,000-square-foot structure to be raised in 25-centimeter (10-inch) increments, thereby effectively adding decades to its building life.

Another problem involves the 'ground' supporting the structure. Actually, it sits on a glacier almost two miles deep that slides 33 feet toward the sea each year. (As a result, the marker designating the true geographic South Pole must be moved annually.) And because different parts of glaciers move at different speeds, buildings are in constant danger of being ripped apart. So the connecting walkways between building modules are designed to be flexible. To ease fuel consumption, the structure is insulated to five times the value of the average U.S. residence.

The result is a city in miniature—including a NASA plant-growth chamber for fresh food production. The W-shaped structure will accommodate NSF's Antarctic Research Program at the Pole, which includes 150 people during the three-month austral summer and 50 people during the remaining nine months.

—by Peter West