Getting supplies in to an isolated community is a huge problem. Since the community is not connected to the rest of the world, it must be able to survive on its own.
Both the Fram and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station initially dealt with this problem by creating a sort of supply line. The Fram’s supply line began with the ship itself. Supplies were loaded up and taken all the way down to Antarctica. Upon reaching the Bay of Whales, the ship was frozen in to the ice, and they set up a base camp. From there, small crews headed along the path to the South Pole, but instead of going all the way, they created supply depots at key locations and returned to base camp. This allowed Amundsen to travel lightly, and replenish his stock of food as needed on the way to the South Pole and on the way back.
The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has taken the idea of the supply line and applied it on a much larger scale. Supplies originate in the USA, are shipped to New Zealand and then to the McMurdo station in Antarctica. As you can see, this station is relatively close to the spot where Amundsen himself landed.
From McMurdo, the supplies are flown in a gigantic ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules cargo aircraft, which has the capacity to carry some 40 000 pounds of gear. Food, fuel, and equipment are all transported to the station in this manner.
Both of these structures had one large problem with their supply lines: they were not continuous. This is obvious for the Fram, as there was no one following them, and they did not plan to stay in Antarctica forever. However, the ASSPS is meant to last forever. This means that people live there all year-round, and therefore need supplies all year-round. Since the cargo planes cannot land for approximately 8 months of the year, no supplies are delivered.
Storage was and still is the easiest answer to the problem of a non-continuous supply line. The diagrams and pictures below illustrate how and where supplies were stored in each of the structures.
Although the crew aboard the Fram killed their dogs as well as native Antarctic animals, and the ASSPS has a room to grow fresh vegetables, neither were really that self-sufficient. In the future, the solution to the problem of supplies would be to simply use only what you could find onsite. This would not be immediately possible, as the initial set of people and supplies
would still have to be transported. However, once the base community was established, surviving with no external support would be the goal.
I’ll finish with a quote from Aristotle’s Politics, Book II.
Both the Fram and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station initially dealt with this problem by creating a sort of supply line. The Fram’s supply line began with the ship itself. Supplies were loaded up and taken all the way down to Antarctica. Upon reaching the Bay of Whales, the ship was frozen in to the ice, and they set up a base camp. From there, small crews headed along the path to the South Pole, but instead of going all the way, they created supply depots at key locations and returned to base camp. This allowed Amundsen to travel lightly, and replenish his stock of food as needed on the way to the South Pole and on the way back.
Diagram of the Fram’s Supply Line
The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has taken the idea of the supply line and applied it on a much larger scale. Supplies originate in the USA, are shipped to New Zealand and then to the McMurdo station in Antarctica. As you can see, this station is relatively close to the spot where Amundsen himself landed.
From McMurdo, the supplies are flown in a gigantic ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules cargo aircraft, which has the capacity to carry some 40 000 pounds of gear. Food, fuel, and equipment are all transported to the station in this manner.
Diagram of ASSPS’ Supply Line
Picture of the LC-130 Hercules Cargo Plane
Both of these structures had one large problem with their supply lines: they were not continuous. This is obvious for the Fram, as there was no one following them, and they did not plan to stay in Antarctica forever. However, the ASSPS is meant to last forever. This means that people live there all year-round, and therefore need supplies all year-round. Since the cargo planes cannot land for approximately 8 months of the year, no supplies are delivered.
Storage was and still is the easiest answer to the problem of a non-continuous supply line. The diagrams and pictures below illustrate how and where supplies were stored in each of the structures.
Space Allotted for Storage Aboard the Fram
Storage Space Inside a Large Quonset Hut at the ASSPS
Although the crew aboard the Fram killed their dogs as well as native Antarctic animals, and the ASSPS has a room to grow fresh vegetables, neither were really that self-sufficient. In the future, the solution to the problem of supplies would be to simply use only what you could find onsite. This would not be immediately possible, as the initial set of people and supplies
would still have to be transported. However, once the base community was established, surviving with no external support would be the goal.
I’ll finish with a quote from Aristotle’s Politics, Book II.
“There is another line of thought from which it is evident that it is not good to attempt to make the city too much of a unity. A household is more self-sufficient than an individual, and a state more self-sufficient than a household. Indeed, a state comes into being only when an association of many different kinds of people turns out to be self-sufficient. The greater the self-sufficiency, the more desirable the institution; therefore, a lesser degree of unity is more desirable than a higher.”
Any community – isolated or not – must be diverse in order to be self-sufficient. Perhaps the ASSPS needs only to expand and add a slightly wider range of people in to the mix, along with some new facilities and technologies, in order to survive on its own.
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