Burton Island (AGB 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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, .. , , g ig i V ww.-M MA - f H- -A---fi---3- -- e 4 iv:.i.::F::,'.::.g -i - L M---1:f,1L5,,g,37lT!T:!r. .'fr.t:':'f-f' --'- -v-f-- - ' N l lil il tl il: i I. si l il. , l 1 3 l. l!' 1 fl l .1 if is 'l il ,lv The icebreaker Eastwind is a formidable ship, butshe is dwarfed by one of the numerous smaller ice shelves along the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula. The helicopter about to land on her flight deck is the HH-52A, the first turbine-powered model to be used by any ice- breaker in Deep Freeze. Conventional choppers would have taken much longer in the re-supply of Palmer Sta- tion, on Anvers Island, which was Eastwind's principal mission this season. The ship also served as a floating laboratory for a party of biologists studying arthropods and fungi, and trapping airborne insects. At right, top: is a glimpse of the self-contained world of the nuclear reactor at McMurdo. These mentook a year's training course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and then spent from one to two years learning operations and mainte- nance in an operational, pressurized-water plant. Out- side this thin shed is the starkest environment in the world, where man has lived regularly for only ten years. Bottom: some of the water distillation equipment. These mechanical details are part of a chain thatmakes possible the scientific work far out on the ice. Eastwind made a unique contribution to Deep Freeze this season. On january 4 she arrived at Palmer Station, the only U. S. station to be supplied entirely by sea. After taking the pre- vious wintering-over party to Punta Arenas, Chile, where she pick- ed up some scientists, she met the freighter Wyandot at sea and escorted her to Anvers Island. Wyandot was to resupply Palmer for the winter, but the ice was so thick that she had to lie about a mile offshore. Eastzuind carried two turbine-powered helicopters -the first time they had been used in the Antarctic by an icebreaker. They are much larger than the choppers that usually search out Hleadsn or open water in the pack ice, and in two days they carried Wyandotis' cargo ashore. One of Eastzutndk officers said, It would have taken ordinary helos a weekfi This saved so much time that they were able to go around into the Weddell Sea on an oceanographic cruise, and to allow the fourteen scientists aboard more time for their observations. In the Weddell Sea they encountered heavier ice, trapped there by the long arm of the peninsula. The new turbine-powered helicopters are good for garbage, too. When the scientists asked that the shipis garbage not be dumped overboard, lest it affect the delicate balance of life in the waters where they were taking measurements, the choppers oblig- ingly carried it far out to sea. U. S. Cool! Guard 1: it if

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Summer Support Wraps Up Occasionally someone asks whether Hthe tail is wagging the dogn - whether the support force will overwhelm the scientific program. On the contrary, according to a senior officer who in- spected the nuclear power plant at McMurdo, tithe tendency is to cut down.'7 The nuclear plant itself is an attempt to reduce the consumption of oil, which is the biggest single item that must be transported to Antarctica. When the plant is operating, it saves about 1,500 gallons a day. Since it went critical in March, 1962, the reactor has not been in operation as steadily as was originally expected. This is be- cause ofthe unusual safety precautions that have to be taken so far from home. 'Containment is the big thing, says Lt Tom Boennighausen, Officer in Charge of the plant. L'We7re super-safe - we can't get our rods off the bottomfi The Antarctic Treaty, furthermore, prohibits the disposal of radioactive wastes of any kind on the Continent. One of the main benefits of nuclear power at McMurdo is the production of steam for the salt water distillation plant that went into part-time operation at the end of this season. It takes about ten gallons of sea water to make a gallon of fresh water, but this is far better than relying on snow, which begins to disap- pear from the hillsides in December. 91