Shutdown Heads South; Antarctic Stations Shuttered
Source: Associated Press
Shutdown Heads South; Antarctic Stations Shuttered
WASHINGTON October 9, 2013 (AP)
By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer
The federal government shutdown is reaching all the way down to the South Pole.
The National Science Foundation announced Tuesday that it is putting its three Antarctic scientific stations in deep freeze just as scientists are starting to arrive for the start of a new research season.
The NSF runs three stations in Antarctica spending just under $400 million a year there. It often takes weeks for some 1200 researchers who spend Antarctic spring and summer there to get to the southern continent by boat or plane.
"This is absurd, just absurd," said Alan Leshner, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the nation's largest science organization. "It's a very big logistical enterprise and this could jeopardize the entire research season for hundreds of important projects."
Researchers study astronomy, particle physics, climate change, and biology in the pristine continent, usually starting in October when the weather warms in the southern spring. The largest station is McMurdo but there are also stations at the South Pole and the Antarctic peninsula.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/shutdown-heads-south-antarctic-stations-shuttered-20510206
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NORSEX stopped updating their observations, too. Not good. 
The Chalet (right) is the U.S. Antarctic Program's administrations and operations center at McMurdo Station.
