The United States Antarctic Program operates a seasonal sea-ice runway at McMurdo Station that supports heavy-haul wheeled aircraft during the short but vital resupply window. The Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center provides criteria to the National Science Foundation for the safe operation of these aircraft. During 1996, landing and parking curves were developed for the newest Air Force transport, the C-17 Globemaster, which had been scheduled tentatively for service in Antarctica in the month of October 1996. Although this new transport weighs somewhat less than the C-5 Galaxy it is scheduled to replace, the C-17 also has just half as many wheels, and leaves correspondingly heavier footprints on the ice. in spite of somewhat greater localized stresses around the landing gear, the thickness of sea ice grown during the "typical" antarctic winter is sufficient to support the maximum aircraft weight of 2.6 MN on landing, takeoff and during turnaround parking.
Scientific research in Antarctica is costly and conducted under great hardship to man and machine. As a result, it is a national priority to optimize research productivity there by ushering scientists and research equipment to the field at the earliest possible date. A key logistical strategy is to expedite deliver3" of high-priority cargo and personnel to the continent at the start of the brief summer season. The United States Antarctic Program (USAP) operates a seasonal sea-ice runway that is re-established yearly near McMurdo Station to support heavy-haul, wheeled aircraft during the vital re-supply window. From late September until early in the austral summer, around mid-December, the bulk of priority cargo and personnel is air lifted from New Zealand by heavy-haul transport, including C5 Galaxy, C-14I Starlifter and C-I30 Hercules aircraft.
