 The most desolate and remote spot on the face of the earth, Antarctica. An ice desert of unspeakable cold. Gale winds that literally take your breath away. This is the big white continent at the bottom of the world, nearly twice the size of the United States. In spite of the ice and intense cold, the Antarctic qualifies as a desert. There's no vegetation, little wildlife, no rainfall, and for human life, survival is difficult. It remains aloof and dangerous, yet compellingly beautiful in its primitive splendor, a desert without sand. In Abbott, I'm assigned as Commander U.S. Naval Support Force Antarctica. It's been estimated that in all of history, no more than about 25,000 people have ever had the opportunity actually to visit the Antarctic. Another way of saying this same statistic is that of all the people in the world today, no more than about one out of every million have actually visited the Antarctic. This film has been put together for that great majority of you who have not had the opportunity to visit the Antarctic. If in the process we are able to get across to you a small fraction of the beauty and the loneliness and the harsh environment of the Antarctic, the effort will have been most worthwhile. Now the place where people do begin their visit in the Antarctic is McMurdo Station. This is the United States main station on the continent. Today, this land of eternal ice is inhabited by a special breed, Navy men of Task Force 43, and the civilian scientists who are unlocking its long-kept secrets. Task Force 43, in bare naval statistics, 3,000 men, 10 airplanes, 10 ships, 6 helicopters, and 10 stations scattered literally all around the world. A Task Force contributing to international cooperation to a series of far-sighted scientific investigations, one which challenges the spirit of its men. It's especially appropriate that this relatively new American outpost should be powered by nuclear energy. This atomic reactor provides electricity to heat and light the base, vastly reducing the need for bulky oil stoves and their accompanying hazard of fire. A distillation unit, powered also by nuclear energy, produces enough fresh water to handle the needs of this small city. The primitive chore of hauling snow to the melters for water conversion is now seldom required at McMurdo. With the nearest hospital 2,300 miles away in New Zealand, the new McMurdo dispensary is literally indispensable. Like in any small town back home, there is a church, a store, a library, and best of all, morale builders, a post office. Task on Earth requires continuous high morale. It's any job undertaken in the Antarctic. The daily difficulties and frustrations of working in a sub-zero, blast-ridden atmosphere are occupational hazards of this hostile land. The well-equipped McMurdo weather station, which includes weather satellite tracking facilities, takes much of the guesswork out of weather predictions. Since the resupply of inland stations, all scientific activities, and in many cases, life itself, depend upon accurate weather forecasts. The attention paid to this science in the Antarctic is understandable. Williams Field, seven miles from McMurdo, presents more hazards to the square foot than most pilots care to think about. But in they come on routine shuttle runs, an average of 300 flights a season, delivering enough food and supplies to the inland stations to last throughout the cold, dark Antarctic winter. Quick turnaround for the hard-working C-130 Hercules and its crew. Within an hour of landing, she's off again with drums of fuel for one of the other remote stations where heat and light are synonymous with oil. At the exact bottom of the Earth lies South Pole Station. Where a man can walk from today to tomorrow and on around the world in a few quick steps by circling the flagpole. It's tunnel life for these men and the never-ending chore of shoveling snow into the melters to provide fresh water. Smoke from the galley promises good things for all hands on Christmas Day. The fixings for this spread were flown in special as a kind of compensation for the disadvantages of being so isolated. It's Christmas, but with no place to go and no relatives to visit, it's back to the job again. The close confines of life under the snow provide an opportunity to investigate human behavior patterns. Sleep adaptation studies with built-in volunteers are conducted. The way a man thinks and sleeps under the stress of these unusual living conditions governs his work habits and consequently his effectiveness on the job. The instant magic of radio unites all Antarctic outposts. Weather reports exchanged between McMurdo and Plateau stations assure pilots a safe arrival and departure. Situated at 14,000 feet, Plateau station's 102-foot radio antenna is undoubtedly one of the highest structures in the world. In the spurt of building activity, one of the last James Way huts is completed at Plateau station before the start of the wintering over period. It will be used as a storage shelter for scientific gear. Taking advantage of the good weather at birdland camp, geologists on motor toboggans set out on an exploratory trip to a nearby mountain. Accompanying them is a Russian exchange scientist who with his American colleagues will take specimens of exposed rock, a rarity in the Antarctic. Here and well-defined dark air foothills has excited the interest of the scientists. U.S. visit to Soviet Russia's Vostok station accentuates the spirit of international cooperation found on the continent. An American scientist spends a year at the Russian station, exchanging technical information and providing a window through which the Soviets may catch a glimpse of American life. New faces are refreshing to the isolated Russians. And the visit provides an occasion for a feast and the inevitable toasts. Christchurch, New Zealand. Land of trees and skirts and short-sleeved shirts and a way of life temporarily suspended for those spending a hitch on the ice desert at the bottom of the earth. Here, too, is advanced headquarters for the U.S. Naval Support Force in the Antarctic and further evidence of international collaboration. The installation, supply and resupply of an outpost in the icy wastes of Antarctica must start with conferences like this. Staff members confer on what to send, how to ship it, when it leaves, and from where. Every item shipped south from toothpaste to tractors is accounted for and allotted space on either an aircraft or a ship. The pack ice in McMurdo sound proves as usual to be a tough adversary. Scarred icebreaker glacier with a New Zealand tanker in tow eases her way to final mooring at McMurdo Station. Later, in the Antarctic summer, resupply continues with the Navy's biggest support effort concentrated in surface shipping. Talk about eskimos using iceboxes. Here's a refrigeration unit in the Antarctic, uncommon spirit is a common virtue. Another achievement is added to the list. The first jet aircraft just landed on the ice when an Air Force pilot brought in a C-141 cargo plane. A New Zealand dog team, one of the few on the continent, adds an incongruous touch to the atomic age frontier. One of the most primitive, but certainly the best way to move cargo over the snow is by sled. This tractor train is carrying supplies, spare parts, food, and other necessities to survival on the last leg of a very long trip from the United States. Technological innovations such as this inflatable jack have drawn scientists to the Antarctic, including Dr. Werner von Braun, chief scientist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The surface of the moon, indeed not, although the moon could hardly be more inhospitable. These dry valleys with their shimmering heat waves are unique on this Earth. Air temperature and wind velocity, among other things, may help determine to some extent the reasons for the texture and composition of this soil, a prime consideration in test landings of space vehicles. Soil samples collected from what could possibly be a future space vehicle test landing site will be analyzed at a stateside laboratory of Antarctica. The well-dressed are daily pendants make a full-time job of robbing one another, not of eggs but of pebbles with which they line their nest. Human people of Antarctica spend their free hours a little differently. Instead of pebbles, they carry a football around the ice. Gets to hug the ice queen. The Antarctic today is more than just ice and penguins and unbearable cold. It's men of many nations doing men's work. Peaceful, productive work on the only continent where weapons of war are outlawed by treaty.