McMurdo Station Fun Facts
Innovative Office is the Postage Meter provider for
the McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
The McMurdo Station is the main U.S. station in
Antarctica. The station is the primary logistics
facility for supply of inland stations and remote field
camps. Year-round and summer science projects are
supported at McMurdo. The station has a harbor, landing strips and a helicopter pad.
There are repair facilities, dormitories, admin buildings, a firehouse, power plant, water
distillation plant, wharf, stores, clubs, warehouses, a science support center and a lab.
Learn more at the McMurdo Station website.
Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Fun Facts
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874–1922) was an Irish-born British explorer who was a
principal figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
On August 1, 1914, Shackleton departed London on the ship Endurance for his third trip
to the South Pole. By late fall the crew had reached South Georgia, an island in the
southern Atlantic. On December 5, the team departed the island, the last time Shackleton
and his men would touch land for an astonishing 497 days.
In January 1915, the Endurance became trapped in ice, ultimately forcing Shackleton and
his men to vacate the ship and set up camp on the floating ice. After the ship sank later
that year, Shackleton embarked on an escape in April 1916, in which he and his men
crowded into three small boats and made their way to Elephant Island, off the southern
tip of Cape Horn.
Seven hard days on the water culminated in the team reaching their destination, but
there was still little hope in getting rescued on the uninhabited island, which, because of
its location, sat far outside normal shipping lanes.
Seeing that his men were on the precipice of disaster, Shackleton led a team of five others
out on the water again. They boarded a 22-foot lifeboat and navigated their way toward
South Georgia. Sixteen days after setting out, the crew reached the island, where
Shackleton trekked to a whaling station to organize an rescue effort.
On August 25, 1916, Shackleton returned to Elephant Island to rescue the remaining crew
members. Astonishingly, not a single member of his 28-men team died during the nearly
two years they were stranded. Learn more at Biography.com