Meanwhile, at the end of the world, US Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is part of Operation Deep Freeze

US Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star

Here'a another of the Coast Guard icebreakers that sail by our shore on Puget Sound. The US Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is in Antarctica, breaking through floes of ice.

By PA3 Diolanda Caballero

After a long transit from Seattle, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star's crew have been busting through Antarctic ice, clearing the way for supply vessels to reach McMurdo Station!

Polar Star's crew is supporting Operation Deep Freeze (ODF). This year marks the cutter's 25th mission to Antarctica, supporting #ODF.

Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica provides Department of Defense support to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Antarctic Program through ODF.

The ODF primary season runs annually, from August through July. This timeframe allows the NSF's research teams and partnered entities the safest and most efficient method of accomplishing their joint goals.

--Photos courtesy US Coast Guard