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The 2009 Midwinter greeting from McMurdo Station. A tradition of the modern digital age, Antarctic stations e-mail messages and pictures to each other to mark the winter solstice. Other traditions, such as the Midwinter dinner, date back to the early explorers.

Midwinter Moment

The winter solstice doesn't get much respect around the world, except in Antarctica, where those spending the dark, cold months pay homage to the shortest day of the year with various ceremonies and feasts. It's a tradition that dates back to the early Antarctic explorers.

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Erebus Medals
Thirty years after Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashed into the side of Mount Erebus, New Zealand honored some of the Americans who assisted with the recovery mission with a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

RIP Dr. Jerri Nielsen
Dr. Jerri Nielsen Fitzgerald, the former South Pole physician who was diagnosed with breast cancer during the middle of the Antarctic winter, succumbed to the disease on June 23, 2009. She was 57.

Leadoff man
Kerry Chuck is a New Zealander who works in two different cultures as the head of the U.S. Antarctic Program's office in Christchurch, New Zealand, the main gateway to Antarctica for many who head south for science and support.

Balancing Act
Ian Joughin and his team have a tough job ahead of them: Determine how much ice from a vast swath of West Antarctica is being lost into the Amundsen Sea compared to the amount of snowfall the area receives. The project will require the scientists to fly across thousands of kilometers of ice later this year.

Midwinter Moment

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