USA’s Antarctic bases to be evacuated over budget crisis

Should the budget crisis in the United States last through mid-October, the American Antarctic stations will have to be evacuated. The three stations, including Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole, will thus have only the minimum number of explorers, whereas season scientific missions will be canceled.

The budget crisis erupted in the United States after the Congress had not coordinated the draft budget for the new fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Most government agencies suspended their work.

The funds that the National Science Foundation (NSF) transferred to Lockheed Martin are expected to end in the middle of October, and the Antarctic stations will remain without supplies: most of the staff will have to leave the station.