Contracted to the National Science
Foundation, Raytheon Polar Services
provides operations, construction, maintenance
and staff to sustain and support
research programs at three year-round
U.S. locations, numerous field camps,
and on two research vessels in the
Antarctic region.
 Working in Antarctica — on average the
highest, driest, coldest and emptiest
continent — means dealing with extreme
weather conditions and extremely limited
logistics. Missions require maximizing
limited resupply options, relying on integrated
long-term schedules, providing
specialized training, working closely with
the client and other related agencies, and
adapting quickly to changing circumstances.
Polar Services recently finished building a
new elevated research station at the South
Pole, where it tests systems that NASA
may use in missions to the moon and
Mars, collect critical data on climate
change, and built premier telescopes and
the largest-ever neutrino detector. They
must withstand extreme temperatures,
a short operating season, a 10,000-mile
logistics chain, and a six-month day and
night — all while operating one of the
largest and geographically dispersed and
technically complex 24x7 communications
infrastructures in the world.
Valerie Carroll
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