Walk-through of my CG rendering of the South Pole Station

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

**CORRECTIONS** 1:04 - Skynet is not the only uplink connection that South Pole has now. There are others that offer faster connections, including SPTR (South Pole Tracking Relay) and DSCS (Defense Satellite Communications System). 3:56 - The station supports do not have the jacks in them all the time, they need to be installed for the lifting procedure. An exhaustive explanation can be found here: www.southpolestation.com/foundationdesign.html 8:32 - There is actually 2 miles of ice underneath the station, not just 1 mile. Also, as I mention in the caption, the Ice Cube detector modules are MUCH deeper than depicted in the rendering. I opted to make them shallow, or else I'd risk making the viewer dizzy (dizzier?) by quickly diving deep into the ice.

[@djskin13]

Wait, isn't Skynet the bad guy in the Terminator movies?

[@ethandicks3]

When MAPO was constructed in the 90s, it housed a number of experiments, one of the largest was AMANDA, the predecessor to Ice Cube. AMANDA was installed beginning in the 90s and completed in 2000. I ran it over three Winters, on its own and in tandem with Ice Cube, and after I left, it was decommissioned and deinstalled.

[@Sembazuru]

Hey, Ethan. Don't know if you remember me. I was down 3 times for IceTop deployment. Dr. Pomerantz was at one point (before I joined) the director of Bartol Research Institute, the organization that I joined that allowed me to go to Pole. Unfortunately, I never met the gentleman.

[@ethandicks3]

@@Sembazuru I do remember you.

[@perrysandstrom4943]

This is amazing, and super accurate (except building entry spaces look a little neater than real life :-) ). Your artistic license is spot on for the beautiful representation of the IceCube detector. I loved the "dark sector" transition. Having been there many summers working on IceCube, I feel like I have now had a first look at what it would be like to be there in winter! Thanks!

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Thank you so much for the kind words :). It's been so great to hear from the pole veterans, reaffirming the accuracy of the model.... something I could never be too sure of, not having been there yet.

[@marieelisa1]

South pole seems so wild, still there's a lot of stations

[@ethandicks3]

The Hypertats are part of what used to be called "Summer Camp". It _was_ "overflow housing" in a sense, from when the station was just the Dome (with 28 beds) and into the early days of the current station up until enough of it was completed that the entire Summer population could fit. The Hypertats were also used briefly during the Winter 20 years ago when they needed housing for the Winter construction crew beginning to build the new elevated station and they needed somewhere outside of the dome to put all the extra people. I stayed in the Hypertats in 1996 during my first trip to Pole.

[@Sembazuru]

D'oh! I just found this comment after leaving mine about Summer Camp.

[@Sembazuru]

Ice Cube was also build during the years of deployment. The hypertats you mention at the beginning were part of what was known as "Summer Camp". Not only was the new station being built (so wasn't ready for full residential capacity), but even when it was completed the number of people on station at any one point was larger than the capacity of the main station building. I lucked out and never had to stay in the summer camp the times I went down there (deploying the surface array portion of IceCube). But I did visit the bar out there on occasion.

[@rikvdmark]

Very nicely done! Loved it 😁

[@MicheleLimon]

Awesome video. I was at pole in 1989 and 1991 doing CMB research when the old station (dome) was still in place. The new station is such an improvement, the old one could house only about 20 people and during the summer most of us slept in the "summer camp".

[@spencerholleran123]

So cool man! Really cool explanation on the sites. Can't wait for a day in the life or station life, when you get done there!

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Thanks man! Yeah I can't wait to get down and explore. Also will be looking out for any patches for you guys

[@larnacaLCA]

Tnx for awesome guidance over the place u stay @.👍👍👍👍

[@kerryfitzharris2012]

Thanks so much for making both of your amazing videos. I learned a great deal from you. Haven't been to the Pole since 1980. My, how things have changed.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

You're very welcome. Glad I could show you around a place I haven't even been to yet :)

[@InternalEchoes369]

Pretty freaking awesome! Interesting info totally out of my hemisphere. Good luck with your travels, and I can't wait to hear more about your experiences.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. That's my goal, to make it accessible to people who wouldn't normally know about it

[@danielleussler4328]

Hey Joe, have fun during your season at Pole! Just wanted to offer a little bit of clarification on the radomes, since I spent a bunch of time in those things. The radome you focused on at the start (woohoo, top billing!) might officially operate as the ground station for Skynet now, but back in my day (2009-2013) it was chatting with a different set of satellites, and we'd know it as the GOES-3 radome. Same building, I assume same dish, but it was built for GOES. More importantly, you're missing the other buildings next to it! There should be a second, smaller radome that houses the TDRS dish, although it's possible that it might have been renamed and responsible for a new set of birds by now. I've never heard of DSCS, but I hope for the sake of your video upload schedule that it offers plenty of bandwidth :) Finally, you're missing the squat little rectangular prism building just a little further toward station from the GOES (nee Skynet) radome, one that's probably not that interesting to most people but can't be forgotten - the RF (or Remote Facility) building. It's probably the best spot on site during the summer to just stand on the porch, breath some -40F air, and stare out at the empty sastrugi for a moment before heading inside to eat stale graham crackers.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Thanks so much for your expert input, I really appreciate it! Adding these buildings will be my highest priority when I get back to revising it. However I'm waiting until I get there in person to make sure my next round of revisions are true to life (also will help in getting the textures right). Again, thanks a bunch, it's input like this that helps me toward my goal of making this be the most accurate model ever of the South Pole.

[@lazerlord_lance]

I can relate so much to things like taking a lot of time to animate the power plant smoke which you can barely see in the end haha It is nice smoke, looks really good. Though from what I've seen in your other videos the smoke in the render is perhaps a bit thick and dark, compared to the actual smoke from the power plant. Ok but for real, this is amazing work, especially considering that you just learned modeling and animation as a fun sidegig while isolating.

[@tombittikoffer412]

Holy crap! Joe has a head!

[@marciahellen5740]

Thanks for the info! I have watched the Aurora from the South Pole through videos and always wondered what the buildings were. I look forward to more of your postings!

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Glad I could offer some context for you :)

[@f.s.7784]

Hi :-) Thanks for showing what they do at the South Pole station. Since normal people don't have the money to go there, thanks again. Flemming. Denmark EU👍🙂

[@paranoidandroid7718]

Little jealous, glad you get to take the opportunity. And your 3D stuff is pretty slick. Best of luck.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Hey thanks! Making the best of it

[@ethandicks3]

Love the all the views and especially love the attention on Ice Cube.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Thanks for all the added info in your comments! I was hoping some on-the-ground experts would stop by and add or correct the information I give here. Really appreciate it.

[@Sembazuru]

@@JoeSpinstheGlobe One minor detail that I could offer if you ever pull this project out of the bitbucket for more renderings. The detectors on the strings are only on the bottom kilometer of the string. Each string is 2-2.5km long/deep (I forget exactly), so there is a gap between the top of the detector array and the surface of the ice. Very minor detail, only someone involved with the project would pick that up. Other than that, I really like the glow effect that you used for the surface cables. Looks really neat. 👍 EDIT: I should have read your caption giving the known issues with the model. You already knew this. Sorry for the noise.

[@chesterrulz9]

Joe excellent video and information about such a expansive and imperative installation that demonstrates scientific importance.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Haha thanks man glad you enjoyed it

[@jamesrosencrans644]

What a marvelous tour and follow-up explanation! Makes me want to learn and dig more I've seen descriptions and documentaries of other stations but not the Amundson Scott. This is a great motivating primer! Good luck on your journey and station. Being both interested in Antarctica and astronomy, to me this is the best of both worlds. Cheers and please keep us posted on your adventures.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Thank you so much for the kind words. Although my career is in medicine, I also have always been interested in Antarctica and astronomy, which was the driving force behind applying for this job (and making this video). Glad you enjoyed! Bill Spindler runs a great website where you can learn so much more @ southpolestation.com

[@jamesrosencrans644]

@@JoeSpinstheGlobe Thanks for the reply and for the reference to Bill Spindler's site. Interesting to see how you have capitalized on your interests in becoming a renaissance man in the 21st century (all this and amazing animation too!). I enjoyed being an engineer in big tech but I am sorry that I didn't take non-traditional paths, like you have. Antarctica is a fascinating place one of my unrealized places to visit (with a purpose and not a tourist). Thanks for letting a person like me live a bit vicariously through people like you. Be well!!

[@blakells]

Awesome vid Josep! I thought you were just going crazy with cool looking effects like smoke and the ice cube lights but awesome to learn it is a representation of function

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Haha thanks man, tried to blend artistry with realism. And I go exclusively by Joe-bag now thanks to you

[@fultonfilmcompany3554]

Amazing work sir! Watching in California.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Thank you! 🤗🤗 Much appreciated

[@fultonfilmcompany4407]

@@JoeSpinstheGlobe Sent you an email sir!

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Reply coming! Sorry our internet is real spotty down here at the South Pole

[@djskin13]

Great work, Joe. You have a fascinating life. The fact that you took the time to do a CG rendering of that quality just for the sake of freely educating others is badass. I sincerely feel this channel will BLOW UP soon. And, rightfully so. You would fall in well with the kindred-spirit of the explorers here in Florida. I would love to work in a crazy research environment like the SP or NP, but I don't think I'm cut out for the cold like you are, haha.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Thank you, it's nice to see ppl appreciating the work i put in :)

[@ashy3r]

Is there more radiation on the south or north pole?

[@wordsofcheresie936]

Are the neutrino observatory and the telescopes heated? There are building attached to them and I am wondering how comfortable it is inside of them.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Yep they're heated, same as the station. In fact the interior temperature is one of the main things that's monitored, because if the building heat fails then there can be big problems

[@xFersureMatt]

I read that the soviet union does not exist anymore. So why is there still a soviet union flag in the 12 flags area?

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

That's Russia, not soviet union

[@xFersureMatt]

@@JoeSpinstheGlobe my mistake. Google mislead me to believe otherwise. Apparently there used to be a Soviet Flag there I guess?