Antarctica as a Stepping stone to Space

• Main Authors: Storey Burton And, J. W. V. Storey, M. G. Burton, M. C. B. Ashley
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; South Pole; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Iceberg*; Leopard Seals; South pole
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.9.2665; http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~mgb/Bibliography/./Antbib/stepping-stone.pdf

Introduction The Antarctic plateau is the coldest and driest place on earth. The highest points are at elevations above 4,000 metres. The atmosphere above the plateau is extraordinarily stable, as there is no jet stream, very little wind, and -- at the South Pole -- no diurnal variation. There is nowhere else on earth that approximates a space environment better than does Antarctica. 2. What is known about site conditions For many people, mention of Antarctica conjures up images of icebergs, blizzards and leopard seals. However, none of these things is present on the high Antarctic Plateau, where astronomical site-testing work has concentrated. Dome C, for example, enjoys lower average wind speeds than most -- if not all -- US cities. At South Pole, the wind speed averages around 6 m/s, and is remarkably constant for days at a time in both speed and direction. Aurora, while spectacular, do not affect infrared or sub-mm observations. Temperatures, of course, are extremely low. At South