[thewopr]

(creds: I was down to McMurdo as a researcher three times)

I suspect this has to do with space and weight constraints, and probably a touch of old-school procurement practices.

In the not-too-distant past, basically everything was flown to south pole station, so weight was at a premium. Powdered milk weights a lot less than UHT milk. Now they do a traverse to the pole with sleds and tractors, so weight is less of an issue, but volume might still be.

On top of that, procurement may be slow to change. If, in fact, weight is no longer a constraint, it might take years for procurement to change to include buying UHT milk.

[MiguelVieira]

Whoa I had no idea:

"To reduce the cost and increase the efficiency and reliability of transporting fuel and materials to South Pole Station, USAP established an overland traverse route from McMurdo Station to the South Pole. The traverse route is approximately 1,030 miles long and took several years of route-finding to prove and to mitigate areas with crevassing. This route is traveled by the South Pole Traverse (SPoT), a tractor train that hauls supplies and fuel using specialized sleds. SPoT tractors ascend more than 9,300 feet along the route to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. On average, it takes 52 days for the round trip from McMurdo to Pole and back."

https://www.southpole.aq/activities/station-logistics.html

[WJW]

I am perversely drawn to applying to this job, even though I know it is at least 500% more shitty than what I currently do.

[AceJohnny2]

> ascend more than 9,300 feet

Ah yes, the Mountains of Madness pass.

(ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness)

[dredmorbius]

My first thought was of the heavy swings used by Camp Century in the 1960s to haul construction materials and supplies to that project.

Except that MMS to AMS is seven times the distance.

And those SPoT tractor trains are averaging less than 3 kph / 2 mph for the round trip.

[honkycat]

Reading this I am picturing a blowing blizzard and massive tractors crawling over the barren landscape. INTENSE!

[dredmorbius]

Even if UHT wouldn't bust mass budgets for the trip, it'd have to be protected from freezing. I don't know what the SPoT capabilities are for non-deep-freeze er ... warm chain transport, but that's an additional logistical hurdle.

Liquids could also pose stability issues in transit, from sloshing and the like.