'Polheim'

Framheim base

Ice sheet two miles thick

Dropping lumber

First permanent station

First plane to land

Navy Seabees

South Pole Telescope

Martin Pomerantz

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

Dome of South Pole Station

Geodisc dome

Dome entrance

Jamesway huts

Remembering Reagan

Rec room

All alone

2008 ceremony

Antarctic night

New South Pole Station

Infrared Explorer

Atmospheric Research Observatory

Tumbleweed rover

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Wednesday marks the 100th anniversary of explorer Roald Amundsen becoming the first to reach the South Pole. In this image Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel and Oscar Wisting (left to right) are pictured at "Polheim," the tent erected at the South Pole on December 16, 1911. The top flag is the Flag of Norway; the bottom is marked "Fram."

Amundsen disappeared aboard a French Latham 47 flying boat in the Barents Sea on June 18, 1928. The plane had been searching for the gas-filled airship "Italia," which crashed when returning from the North Pole during an expedition led by Italian aeronautical engineer Umberto Nobile.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Olav Bjaaland./ Wikipedia

The base at Framheim, February 1911.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Wikipedia

Over the decades, scientists and support personnel have conducted research at the South Pole on myriad projects. But the conditions are anything but balmy as evidenced by this 1960 photo. The ice sheet below South Pole is nearly two miles thick.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by U.S. Navy NAVFAC Archives

A C-124 Cargo plane airdrops lumber to U.S. Navy Seabees at the South Pole, December 1956 as they went about the construction of a research station.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Dick Prescott National Science Foundation

A December 4, 1956 aerial view of the first permanent station at the South Pole.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Dick Prescott, National Science Foundation

This C-47 was the first airplane to land at the South Pole on October 31, 1956.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Dave Grisez, National Science Foundation

Group shot of the U.S. Navy Seabees who built the first South Pole station. Work was completed in late December 1956.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by U.S. Navy, National Science Foundation

Today the South Pole Telescope collects data on cosmic microwave background radiation and black matter.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Keith Vanderlinde, National Science Foundation

The South Pole offers six months of constant sunlight for studying the sun. This 1985 image shows researcher Martin Pomerantz at the Pole.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Ann Hawthorne, National Science Foundation

Weather balloons launched at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The base was named in honor of two explorers. Norwegian Roald Amundsen led the first successful expedition to the South Pole 100 years ago. The other half of the base's name was in memory of British explorer Robert Falcon Scott, who lost the race against Amundsen and arrived at the South Pole more than month later, only to find Amundsen's tent, a Norwegian flag and a letter from Amundsen. Scott and four companions died on the way out.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Calee Allen, National Science Foundation

Dome of the South Pole Station, which was completed in 1975.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by National Science Foundation

1993 overhead shot of the geodisc dome and support tunnels at the South Pole Station.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by U.S. Navy

The entrance to the dome filled up with snow and ice accumulation, as demonstrated in this 1975 photo. It ultimately required the digging of an access tunnel.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Peter West, National Science Foundation

Korean War vintage Jamesway huts.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Patrick Hovey, National Science Foundation

U.S. flag, backlit by Southern Lights, flies at half staff in June 2004 in memory of former President Ronald Reagan. The flag was also lowered after the 9/11 terror attacks and the Space Shuttle Columbia loss in 2003.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by J. Dana Hrubes, Space Sciences Laboratory, South Pole Station

No longer any need for roughing it. A look at the base recreation room.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Peter West, National Science Foundation

Isolation of the U.S. South Pole Station. The nearest human habitation is McMurdo Station on Ross Island, about 900 miles away.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Scott Jackson, National Science Foundation

2008 ceremony including the 12 original signatory nations of the Antarctic Treaty.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Glenn Grant, National Science Foundation

July 2005 image taken during the 6-month-long Antarctic night.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by Chris Danals, National Science Foundation

Aerial photo taken in 2005 of new South Pole Station. The older station is at lower left

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by cot Jackson, National Science Foundation

South Pole Infrared Explorer was used to probe areas where new stars form by recording their infrared emissions.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by D.A. Harper Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica

Atmospheric Research Observatory tracks changes in the Earth's atmosphere.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by NOAA

Tumbleweed rover is an experimental device designed to land on other planets. In 2004 tests, it has traveled more than 40 miles around the pole.

Caption by Charles Cooper / Photo by National Science Foundation/USAP

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100 years--and counting--at the South Pole (photos)

Updated: December 14, 2011 4:34 PM PST

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