Rothera Research Station

These included scuba diving, experiments conducted in the Bonner Laboratory and the start of the Rothera Oceanographic and Biological Time Series (RaTS) with measurements of the adjacent Ryder Bay throughout the year.This two-storey building houses the communal dining area, kitchen, bar, library, film/TV rooms, computer facilities, phone booth and the post office/ station shop.During the winter this large facility is left in the hands of three diving and boating officers and two marine biologists, although this can vary depending on the projects underway at the time.The original lab was built in response to the base at Signy being down scaled to a summer only facility and the increased accessibility of Rothera after the runway construction.The Dirck Gerritsz Laboratory is adjacent and houses researchers from Netherlands Polar Programme working alongside those in the Bonner Lab Also known as the Sledge Store, or Phase III.The Span and Boat Shed were built at approximately the same time using similar techniques (interlocking steel archways on a concrete base), and are located at either end of the site.The five person indie rock band is part of a science team investigating climate change and evolutionary biology on the Antarctic Peninsula.The station has a 900 m (2,950 ft) crushed rock runway, with an associated hangar and bulk fuel storage facility, and a wharf for the discharge of cargo from supply ships.There is a transitory summer population of scientists and support staff who reach Rothera either by ship or through use of a De Havilland Canada Dash 7 aircraft flying from the Falkland Islands or Punta Arenas in Chile.With the commissioning of the gravel runway and hangar in 1991/1992 air operations became more reliable and access to Rothera was greatly improved through a direct airlink from the Falkland Islands.The Dash 7 will make approximately 20 flights a season, mostly to Punta Arenas, with some to RAF Mount Pleasant on the Falkland Islands, bringing in scientists, support staff, food and equipment.When not tasked for these flights, the Dash can fly to Sky Blu in one hop, landing on the Blue Ice runway, significantly enhancing the range of the Twin Otters by depositing fuel and equipment in much larger quantities.Many transiting Twin Otters and Basler_BT-67 of other Antarctic operators are also refuelled at Rothera, with the gravel runway allowing them to cross to or from South America without skis, which would create too much drag for the long flight.