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Who was the first Antarctic
blogger? -
email with link
if you have a claimant
Claimant!:
Dale Andersen,
I was blogging from McMurdo in 1993,
and again from the Dry Valleys (Lake Hoare) in 1996. You
could double check with Geoff Haines-Stiles (passport to
knowledge, polar palooza) for the 1993 blog (Dale's Dive
Diary) and Keith Cowing at NASAWatch for the material I
posted in 1996.
Dale's website
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South Pole Station Operations
Center (SOC). Personnel handle high-frequency radio
calls with aircraft, local radio communications, and fire
alarms. Photograph by: Peter Rejcek - National Science Foundation
- Dec 2005.
Communications equipment
at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The white sphere
is the MARISAT GOES Terminal (SPMGT) satellite communications
antenna platform. Behind it to the left is the Radio Frequency
(RF) Building. Photograph by: Scot Jackson - National Science
Foundation - October 27, 2005.
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Communications have probably changed
the experience of being in Antarctica more than any other single factor.
In the earliest days, there was no radio
even, so ships and their crews would not be heard of for literally months
on end, even a year or more, until it returned to port or came across
another ship during its voyage.
Later radio was invented, but communications
were rather "official" being about the work of the base or ship rather
than personal communications. The radio communications themselves would
be at a pre-arranged "sched" (scheduled) time and would be via a land
station bordering Antarctica. This situation lasted for several decades
into the late 20th century.
The next major step forwards was with
the advent of telex communications when the base personnel were given
a monthly allowance of around 100 words or so to be sent in either direction
to a pre-named contact person. Aside from this communications of a personal
nature between Antarctic personnel and the rest of the world was by
letter which went in each direction from one to three times a year depending
on how deep in Antarctica the base was.
Later by the 1980's, satellite communications
arrived along with fax machines which speeded things up and also increased
the amount of traffic.
Personnel now had 200 words and more
per month in each direction and the possibility of making telephone
calls (at exorbitant cost! - paid by the individual)
With the advent of the internet and broadband,
the outside world is now available via your keyboard and monitor screen
almost on demand (satellite position and weather conditions allowing).
So in the last 100 years, base personnel
have gone from being able to only write letters 1-3 times a year to
being able to email and post their thoughts, news and pictures on websites
and blogs on a daily basis.
Ken Klassy, Systems Admin - McMurdo Station 2009
Dr Abhijeet Bhatia, Maitri India 2008 - 2009
Guillaume Dargaud, Concordia
France 2004 - 2005
