~DOME TOUR~
VIRTUAL VIEW FROM INSIDE OF THE DOME
(Wait for Image to Load)
-Photos and Panorama Assembly by Marc Hellwig-
Welcome to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station Dome. Place your cursor on the image and click once to stop the initial movement. Once the image has stopped, press the mouse button down while moving the cursor over the picture to move around and up and down within this multi-directional Vitural Dome Tour. Use "A" and "Z" to zoom and unzoom and to see inside the specific buildings under the Dome, just choose from the list of buildings near the top of your screen.
If this is your first time inside the Dome, you will probably be a bit surprised to find out that the Dome itself is not heated. Basically, it is a major windbreak which covers several heated buildings that were prefabricated to fit inside the cargo bay of a LC-130 aircraft so that they could be transported to the pole and assembled like stackable lego blocks.
If you look straight up to the top of the dome you will see five large holes that are used to let heat and exhaust escape from the buildings residing under the Dome. Stalactites are often created during the winter months and hang from the top of the dome in menacing cavernous style.
A couple of times a year, members of the community get to climb to the top of the dome to do antenna maintenance or to remove and replace the American Flag which is presented to the Winter-Over Manager. It is always a treat to stand atop the bottom of the world and wonder at the vast beauty of the polar plateau.
Take your time to peruse this humble home at the bottom of the earth and enjoy all the splendor of becoming a virtual Polie!
If you were unable to view the above virtual tour, you may see an inside panorama view of the dome or a birds-eye view layout of the dome in our photo gallery.
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