962 



U.S. ANTARCTIC RESEARCH PROGRAM 



The Antarctic Research Program was funded at the level of $43.7 

 million est. in the fiscal year 1973.^^* As such it is the most costly of 

 the current research programs. It will be described next to illustrate 

 international activities subsumed under the category of national 

 research programs. 



The U.S. Antarctic Research Program had its origins in the astro- 

 nomical observations carried out in 1957-1958 under the International 

 Geophysical Year (IGY.)"^ The U.S. Government had built a number 

 of observatories and stations in the Antarctic to carry out obligations 

 under the IGY. The Government decided to maintain these after 

 completion of the IGY investigations to continue scientific investi- 

 gations and to support patterns of international cooperative research 

 which had been initiated during the preceding years. 



The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959 and ratified by the United 

 States and 11 other Nations, provided that the Antarctic would be 

 used only for peaceful purposes and that international scientific 

 cooperation should be continued there. ^^* The National Science 

 Foundation had served as coordinator of U.S. Antarctic programs 

 from the end of the IGY until initiation of activities under the Treaty. 

 Under a Bureau of the Budget directive relating to the conduct and 

 planning of the U.S. Antarctic Research Program, the Foundation 

 was given additional responsibility for developing, managing, and 

 coordinating an integrated U.S. intergovernmental science program 

 for the area. NSF continues to manage the U.S. Antarctic program. 

 U.S. research is coordinated with that of the 11 other Treaty signa- 

 tories through ICSU. International scientific exchanges and coopera- 

 tive field research projects are implemented through bilateral and 

 multilateral agreements. 



The Antarctic Policy Group, composed of the Secretary of State 

 as Chairman, the Secretary of Defense, and the Director of the Na- 

 tional Science Foundation, determines policy, approves long-range 

 plans, and provides general guidance for the program. The NAS 

 Cornmittee on Polar Research advises on the program, and effects 

 contact with foreign academies and the International Council of 

 Scientific Unions.^^ 



NSF-sponsored research, funded by both scientific research di- 

 visions and the OflBce of Polar Programs, includes "... both 

 field work . . . and study in the United States of specimens . . ; ." 

 Support is also given for science information activities and for polar 

 research centers. Investigations involve scientists from universities, 

 Federal research laboratories, non-profit research institutions, and 

 industrial research laboratories, "Approximately 200 scientists," 

 according to the Foundation, "are in the field each austral summer:" 



Twenty-five to 30 scientists conduct the year round investigations at the four 

 U.S. Stations: McMurdo, South Pole, Siple, and Palmer. Another 40-50 investi- 

 gators and their assistants are engaged in ocean-related research aboard the 

 research vessels Eltanin and Hero, and in the United States, data analysis and 



1 " ' 



274 Research support totaled $24.0 million; $19.74 million was used for the purchase of three ski-equipped 

 LC-310 airplanes for use in the Antarctic Program. {1974 National Science Foundation Authorization: Hear- 

 ings, op. cit., pp. 167-167 and 191.) 



^5 On this topic see a preceding study in this series: The Political Legacy of the International Geophysical 

 Year. 



2!6 "Twelve Nations Sign Treaty Guaranteeing Nonmilitarization of Antarctica and Freedom of Scientific 

 Investigation," Department of State Bulletin (December 21, 1969), pp. 1-7. 



2" NSF, Justification of Estimates of Appropriations, FY 1973, op. cit., pp. C-30-31. 



