The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has a presence in the Antarctica continent. Founded in 1959, the USAP manages all U.S. scientific research and related logistics in Antarctica as well as aboard ships in the Southern Ocean.
Background
Early U.S. expeditions to Antarctica
The first Americans to work in the Antarctic were sealers and whalers who discovered many sub-Antarctic islands. They were first to explore parts of the great peninsula jutting out of the Antarctic mainland toward South America. Among them was Nathaniel Palmer, who was among the first to see Antarctica, while on board the Hero in 1820, though historians have not settled the question of who discovered Antarctica. James Eights, a geologist from Albany, New York, became the first U.S. scientist to work in Antarctica. In 1830, aboard the Annawan, Eights made investigations in the South Shetland Islands and westward along the Antarctic Peninsula.
Expeditions sponsored by several nations approached the Antarctic continent early in the 19th century. Among the leaders was Charles Wilkes, a U.S. Navy lieutenant who commanded an expedition in 1839–40 that was the first to prove the existence of the continent. His expedition mapped about of the Antarctic coastline in the Indian and Australian quadrants.
In 1928–1930 and 1933–1935, Admiral Richard E. Byrd led two privately sponsored expeditions, one that included the first flight over the South Pole in 1929, sparking U.S. interest in Antarctica. The U.S. Antarctic Service Expedition (1939–1940), under the leadership of the U.S. Navy, maintained bases at Marguerite Bay and Bay of Whales.
Operation Highjump in 1946–1947 was the largest single expedition ever to explore Antarctica, involving 13 naval vessels, numerous airplanes and more than 4,700 men. The next year, the Navy's Operation Windmill used helicopters to complete some of the work begun during Highjump.
The International Geophysical Year and the Antarctic Treaty
In 1956–57 the U.S. Navy, during Operation Deep Freeze I, and in conjunction with research teams funded by the National Science Foundation, established seven research stations in Antarctica to prepare for the International Geophysical Year (IGY, 1957–58). The IGY was an intensive, multi-national, multi-disciplinary, global research effort designed to study a wide range of geophysical processes. Much of that effort took place in Antarctica and was crucial in establishing Antarctica as a continent for peace and science.
The international coordination that resulted from the IGY ultimately lead to the Antarctic Treaty, which was signed in 1959. Since then, Treaty nations have agreed to several addenda, including the 1991 Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty which establishes rules and procedures specifically designed to protect the Antarctic environment. The Protocol was ratified and went into effect in 1998.
History Establishment The United States established the U.S. Antarctic Research Program (USARP) in 1959—the name was later changed to the U.S. Antarctic Program—immediately following the success of the International Geophysical Year (IGY). Today, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has a Presidential Mandate to manage the United States Antarctic Program, through which it operates three year-round research stations and two research vessels, coordinates all U.S. science on the southernmost continent, and works with other federal agencies, the U.S. military, and civilian contractors, to provide the necessary logistical support for the science.
The U.S. is a signatory to the Antarctic Treaty and the conduct of science is the principal expression of U.S. interest in the Antarctic.
In October 1970, President Richard Nixon stated U.S. policy for Antarctica to be:To maintain the Antarctic Treaty and ensure that this continent will continue to be used only for peaceful purposes and shall not become an area or object of international discord; to foster cooperative scientific research for the solution of worldwide and regional problems, including environmental monitoring and prediction and assessment of resources; and to protect the Antarctic environment and develop appropriate measures to ensure the equitable and wise use of living and non-living resources... Science has provided a successful basis for international accord, and the Antarctic is the only continent where science serves as the principal expression of national policy and interest.In 1970 and again in 1976 National Security Decision Memoranda (71 and 318) reaffirmed the "importance of maintaining an active and influential U.S. presence in the Antarctic that is 'responsive to U.S. scientific, economic, and political objectives.
In February 1982 President Ronald Reagan in White House Memorandum 6646 reaffirmed the prior policy and noted that the presence in Antarctica shall include "the conduct of scientific activities in major disciplines" and "year-round occupation of the South Pole and two coastal stations".
On June 9 1994, Presidential Decision Directive NSC 26 ("United States Policy on the Arctic and Antarctic Regions") stated that U.S. policy toward Antarctica has four fundamental objectives: (1) protecting the relatively unspoiled environment of Antarctica and its associated ecosystems, (2) preserving and pursuing unique opportunities for scientific research to understand Antarctica and global physical and environmental systems, (3) maintaining Antarctica as an area of international cooperation reserved exclusively for peaceful purposes, and (4) assuring the conservation and sustainable management of the living resources in the oceans surrounding Antarctica.
An April 1996 report, U.S. Antarctic Program, by the president's National Science and Technology Council, directed the establishment of the present Panel and reaffirmed that essential elements of U.S. national and scientific interests are well served by continued involvement in scientific activity in the Arctic as carried out by the U.S. Antarctic Program. The report states that policies in the 1982 memorandum continue to be appropriate at the current funding level and that present U.S. policy and practice with respect to the U.S. Antarctic Program are well justified.
Current developments
AIMS The Antarctic Infrastructure Modernization for Science (AIMS) is a ten-year construction project to upgrade and update McMurdo Station's infrastructure. Starting in 2021, the project will build about 370,000 square feet of new facilities, while razing several of the station's aging structures.
Allegations of sexual harassment and assault In April 2021, the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs entered into an agreement with the Department of the Interior's Federal Consulting Group to oversee a needs assessment of the USAP as relates to allegations of sexual harassment and assault. The Sexual Assault/Harassment Prevention and Response (SAHPR) Report was published on June 22, 2022. The report utilized focus groups and surveys from community members to paint a picture of the situation on-ice, and details response and prevention suggestions.
In response to the SAHPR report, the U.S. Congressional Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing on December 6, 2022, called "Building A Safer Antarctic Research Environment", and the NSF's Office of the Inspector General released a related report on March 7, 2023, titled "Law Enforcement Perspectives on Sexual Assault and Stalking Issues Pertaining to the United States Antarctic Program".
At the hearing, a Leidos representative testified before Congress that Leidos had received "zero allegations of sexual assault" between May 2017 and April 2022, despite the SAHPR report mentioning dozens of such instances. A statement put out by the House committee in May 2023 found Leidos' claim to be "untrue" and that "efforts to purposefully provide inaccurate information to Congress and to obstruct NSF OIG's investigation into this matter cannot be allowed."
In 2024, the committee concluded that "investigating and adjudicating reports of harassment and assault became an exercise in passing the buck, and subcontractors—whom the Committee often found to be untrained and unprofessional—were able to make final decisions with absolutely no oversight or consistency. In conclusion, the inconsistency in company policies, the lack of oversight by Leidos and NSF, and poor communication among all entities operating in the USAP created an unsafe environment..." The letter included exhibits from several contractors and sub-contractors, including Leidos and Gana A-'Yoo Services Corporation (GSC).
Alcohol policies In 2023, alcohol sales at station bars were banned. Alcohol was still available for purchase in the station stores, though weekly rations were steadily decreased for several years. The NSF claimed that these changes were for "morale and welfare".
In 2025, all hard liquor was banned from the program. Only beer and wine will be sold and staff are banned from bringing their own alcohol.
Class action lawsuit
On January 6, 2025, a former USAP contractor filed a class-action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado alleging private federal contractors systematically suppressed wages, retaliated against workers who raised concerns about mistreatment and health and safety issues, and entered into illegal no-poach agreements.
Budget cuts The Trump administration's proposed FY2026 would cut 55% of the National Science Foundation's budget. This resulted in significant layoffs of fulltime USAP staff, cuts and cancellations to science, delaying and cancelling construction projects, and the decommissioning of the program's only research vessel.
Facilities and vessels The U.S. Antarctic Program operates three year-round research stations. Additional temporary field camps are constructed and operated during the austral summer.
McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station (77°51' S, 166°40' E), the largest research station in Antarctica by population, is situated on barren volcanic hills at the southern tip of Ross Island, about south of Christchurch, New Zealand and north of the South Pole. The station sits on the eastern shore of McMurdo Sound, the southernmost body of seasonally open water in the world. Mount Erebus, a high active volcano, towers over Ross Island. On the west side of the Sound, the Royal Society Range and Mount Discovery, an extinct volcano, provide spectacular vistas. The mean annual temperature is . Temperatures may reach as high as in summer and in winter. The average wind speed is , but winds have exceeded .
McMurdo Sound is a historic area. In 1841, James Clark Ross brought his ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror into the Sound, farther south than anyone had ever gone, before sailing eastward along a great wall of ice. He and his crew were the first humans to see the island and the ice shelf that both now bear his name. In 1902, Robert F. Scott wintered HMS Discovery in Winter Quarters Bay, adjacent to the station. Both of Scott's (1901–1904 and 1910–1913) and Ernest Shackleton's (1907–1909 and 1914–1916) expeditions used the area as a base to deploy sledging parties for both scientific exploration and attempts to reach the South Pole. The huts these expeditions built still stand today at Hut Point, Cape Evans, and Cape Royds.
The original station was constructed in 1955–1956. With many additions and modernizations over the years, today's station is the primary logistics facility for airborne and overland resupply of inland stations and field science projects. The station is also the waste management center for much of the USAP.