The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Polar Star has embarked on its 27th year in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the Guard said Nov. 16. The cutter has left its homeport of Seattle and headed to Antarctica for Deep Freeze, a yearly joint military effort to replenish the U.S. Antarctic stations supporting the National Science Foundation, which is the U.S. Antarctic Program’s lead agency. Every year, the cutter crunches through ice to create a path that enables fuel and supply vessels to access McMurdo Station, the U.S. Antarctic Program’s logistical hub and the biggest Antarctic station. “Operation Deep Freeze is a…