Helicopter Pad at McMurdo by Ella Derbyshire

Nikon D80's

Here we see the helicopter pad at McMurdo Research Station on Ross Island, Antarctica.

Most of the times that I walked by this place the helicopters were out flying. This afternoon I was fortunate to find two helicopters on the ground, and so there are a couple of helicopters in the photograph. The helicopter on the left is newly returned from a trip to the Dry Valleys. The one on the right returned a few minutes ago from hauling supplies out onto the ice.

The colorful wagons on the left of the photograph stand out on this continent where white and blue dominate the landscape. This photograph was taken in the Spring, and you can see quite a bit of bare soil. McMurdo, which is on the Antarctic coast, has a lot of this exposed gravelly soil in summer. Most of Antarctica is covered by deep ice and snow. Folks at the Pole, where the ice is almost 2 miles thick, don't get to see very much dirt.

There is a nice group of Antarctic-style buildings on the ice over to the right of the image. Scientists use buildings like these during their research. Off in the distance you can see flag lines and more buildings on ice. As more scientists arrive from New Zealand, there will be a lot more vehicles, buildings and activity on the ice.

You may notice that helicopters are not the only vehicles in this image. You can also see some of the signage that is unique to McMurdo and Antarctica.

The 28 images of this panorama were photographed wiith a Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro.