Evening star., 1955-11-06

After a year Of plann
tions for the 1878 Interna-
tional Geophysical Year"
(IGYl Antarctic study was
moving out of the paper work
stage. Phase one was the ex-
ploratory voyage Of the USS
Atka to the Antarctic last year.
Before the two years are out
men win have built and lived
in a station atop the South
Pole. In fact, the whole Ant
arctic region win be populated
as never before. This great,
white germless land Of the
penguin and whale will be-
come q sort of Little United
Nations.
U. S. TO Set Up Six Bases
Those three ice breakers. the
Edisto, the Glacier and the
East Wind, are the first dcpar-
lures of q seven-ship American
task force. They are bound for
the Ross Sea to set up two
bases, one at Little America
and another at McMurdo
Sound. Eventually the United
States alone will have six bases
on the Antarctic Continent.
For the 100 men out Of the
2,2Oo-man task force who win
stay over the winter as base
caretakers, it win be q harsh
and weird worlds land Of
periious awhite-outss and al
most unbelievable cold.
The cold becomes SO intense
loo degrees below freezing
that even In . dead calm q
man who walks rapidly can
generate enough breeze to
crack the bones in his face
and nose.
A standard rule Of the ex-
pedition viii be that no man
moves outside at temperatures
lower than As below. Lower
than that. q man may frost
his lungs.
The .white-out" cost four
Of the fiye American lives lost
in the Antarctic on past ex-
petitions.
In . .white-outr the suns
rays slant through snow clouds
to create q great white void.
The horizon disappears and
there Is no way to tell right
from left. up from down. Men
become dizzy and feel IS II
they were suspended inside q
bale of cotton.
Major Structures to Be Built
This Is the greatest expedi-
ton ever sent into the Ailtarc-
tic and the amount Of actiy-
ity planned borders on the
astounding. Al special Navy
construction battalion - the
Seabees Of World War II fame
has, been formed at Davis.
vile. n. J., to do the actual
construction. An airneld VIII
be built ct McMurdo Sound
capable Of handling the larg-
est aircraft.
It Is anticipated that con-
struction party will land about
200 miles from the south Pole
and walk In. Its equipment
win Be paracnnted.
sled trains pulled by 1885,
horsepower. IA. .000-pound trac-
tors VIII struggle 600 land
miles over the ice ID establishI
q weather station and scien-
| tific observatory at the juno
ton Of Marie Byrd Land and
the Ellsworth Highland.
So carefully are these tractors
designed that despite their
huge weight their pressure on
the snow will be exactly that
exerted by q man on skis
pounds per square inch.
All Of the planning and
activity Is to support the 100
| American scientists who will
come In next year.
Officers ii Planning Staff
just to set an idea Of the
effort put into preparing the
expedition, I talked TO five
officers on the task force plan
ming stan Capt. Richard b.
Black, Condr. Charles Arthur
Snay, communications officers;
Comdr. Vernon L. Pendergraft,
air ofiicer; Comdr. Donald
Kent. supply ofiicer. and 1t.
H. w. Flippen, engineering
officer.
| Every man on the expedition
/ is 4 volunteer and was selected
on the same basis as the Navy
| picks its subrnariners.
"We are taking portable
radios plus normal nxed sta
tions. said Comdr. snay. The
stations will be thousand watt
ers. We can get communica-
tions for 10000 miles With
them by bouncing the waves
on the ionosphere.
THE United states will be
weather central for all the
expeditions and We win broad
cast weather reports every six
! hours. our antennas have