McMurdo Station is a U.S. Antarctic research centre located on the southern tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program, a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is the largest community in Antarctica, capable of supporting up to 1,258 residents, and serves as the United States Antarctic science facility. All personnel and cargo going to or coming from Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station first pass through McMurdo.

A female soldier from the honour guards prepares for a welcoming ceremony for Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, October 18, 2016. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Woman on phone in hotel room. (Photo by DreamPictures/Getty Images)

This year’s overall winner and winner of the coast and marine category is George Stoyle with his image “Hitchhikers” of a Lion’s mane jellyfish, photographed at St Kilda, off the Island of Hirta, Scotland. (Photo by George Stoyle/British Wildlife Photography Awards 2016)

A man carries food supplies on a donkey to Dhalamlam Mountain in the Jafariya district of the western province of Raymah, Yemen June 2, 2016. In villages perched high on a mountain in Western Yemen, residents are a safe distance from a conflict raging throughout most of the country but have had to turn the clock back on their lifestyles by centuries. (Photo by Abduljabbar Zeyad/Reuters)

Lin Yufei and Gao Zijian of China perform in the gala exhibition on day three of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Cup of China at Huaxi Sports Center on November 8, 2020 in Chongqing, China. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Aerial photo taken on April 10, 2022 shows the construction site of Haikou duty-free shopping complex in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province. With a total construction area of about 926,000 square meters, the Haikou duty-free shopping complex project is expected to be officially put into use this year. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A giant biodegradable landart painting entitled “Vers l'equilibre” (Towards balance) by French-Swiss artist Saype is pictured near the summit of the Grand Chamossaire mountain, above the alpine resort of Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland, Wednesday, July 06, 2022. Extending over an area of 2500 square meters, this fresco was created using biodegradable pigments made out of charcoal, chalk, water and milk proteins. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/Keystone via AP Photo)