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.

“Don't take the life too serious”. (Photo by David Olkarny)

Lightning strikes the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) in downtown on June 12, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Crowds look on as Xolo the Giant Dog, one of the giant Royal De Luxe street puppets taking part in Liverpool's World War I centenary commemorations, walks through the streets of Liverpool on July 25, 2014 in Liverpool, England. French street theatre company Royal de Luxe are putting on a show throughout the city as part of Liverpool's World War I centenary commemorations from July 23-27. The giant puppet grandmother has slept in the hall for two days as part of “Memories of August 1914”. As the giants tour the city the Little Girl Giant and her dog Xolo will meet up with the giant Grandmother telling the story of life leading up to World War One. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

General Augusto Pinochet, the President of Chile, with the Argentinian President, Maria Estela Martinez De Peron, at a dinner given in his honour in Buenos Aires. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 22nd April 1975

British South American Airways hostess Mary Guthrie with a pair of pineapples, on the return of the Lancastrian airliner 'Star Dust' to Heathrow Airport after a test-flight to Buenos Aires, 15th January 1946

A member of the United States Naval Academy freshman class wears body armor, helmet and carries a rifle through a mud-filled ditch as part of the “Wet and Sandy” challenge during the rigorous Sea Trials May 17, 2011 in Annapolis, MD. Under strict safety supervision, about 900 freshmen, or “Plebes”, faced 14 hours of 32 rigorous physical and mental challenges during the trials, a daylong, action-oriented event modeled after the Marine Corps 54-hour Crucible and the Navy's Battle Stations. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)