08
Feb
On Feb. 7, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star made it to McMurdo Station in Antarctica for its annual participation in Operation Deep Freeze, which helps the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Antarctic Program’s lead agency. This is the 25th time the 399-foot, 13,000-ton Seattle-based Polar Star, the Coast Guard’s only heavy icebreaker, is supporting the mission, which involves cutting through ice as thick as 21 feet to clear a pathway for vessels to bring fuel and supplies to the station, considered the U.S. Antarctic Program’s logistics hub. Each year, the crew pilots the 399-foot, 13,000-ton cutter to break…