Researchers at Antarctica’s McMurdo Station may face annual average temperatures of minus .4 degrees Fahrenheit and drifting snow of depths around five feet–but at least they have easy access to cash. Since around 1998, Antarctica has had an operating ATM.
The blog NeedCoffeeDotCom interviewed a Wells Fargo representative about the challenges of keeping an Antarctic ATM working. According to a vice president in the ATM banking division, David Parker, there are actually two of the machines in the remote McMurdo Station, but one serves exclusively as a back-up that can be “cannibalized” for parts in case the other fails. The machine recycles the station’s limited cash supply, since–beyond chucking dollar bills at penguins–there aren’t many things to do with cash outside the snug walls of McMurdo.
Parker says that the machines were a hard sell at first (the bank wondered “Why would we need an ATM in Antarctica?”), but researchers and workers employed by Raytheon Company have been putting the cash machine to good use for over a decade.
Station workers are trained to perform basic repairs, but Wells Fargo sends a technician every other year for complete machine tune-ups. Parker says that “mission: Antarctica ATM” requires a ten-month preparation process, and notes that the technician must wait in line to get a flight, since all flights are prioritized according to the station’s needs. Trash removal, for example, is ahead of ATM-repair.
The machines themselves are similar to Wells Fargo ATMs in more traditional locales except McMurdo researchers have one perk: no surcharge.
Related content:
Discoblog: How Antarctica’s Scientists Chill Out: With a Rugby Match on the Ice
Discoblog: To Track Penguins, Scientists Use High-Tech Satellite Images of…Droppings
DISCOVER: The Coolest Science Experiments in Antarctica (photo gallery)
DISCOVER: The Ground Zero of Climate Change
Image: flickr / TheTruthAbout…
