Downwind side of the station, one of the wings
South Pole Station - Antarctica

Downwind side of the station, one of the wings. Parts of three wings are visible, but the most visible wing in the middle is Pod A section 1 (A-1), and is special because, if the rest of the station were all to become unusable (due to fire, mechanical failures, etc.) this wing could become self-sufficient.

There are about 20 dorm rooms in this wing (winter residents would have to share the rooms - about three to a room) along with some limited cooking facilities, a small laundry, two lounges with lots of books and movies available,
and most important of all its own power plant. In fact, this power plant could provide power for the whole station if needed, and there are also generators in the Dark Sector for an emergency backup.

In this environment, having backups is very important - and there are a LOT of backups and redundancy. Naturally, Wing A-1 can be sealed off from the rest of the station if necessary. The snowmobiles parked in front have a sled designed to carry three passengers with luggage or equipment.

Nov 2007