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.

An unmanned Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Wednesday, February 11, 2015, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. On board is the Deep Space Climate Observatory, which will head toward a solar-storm lookout point a million miles away. (Photo by John Raoux/AP Photo)

In this January 25, 2013 photo, snake handler Saintilus Resilus holds a snake in front of his lips as he trains the snake to recognize his smell as he prepares for his street performances during the pre-Lenten Carnival season, at his home in Petionville, Haiti. Resilus sees himself as something of a performance artist, showing off with snakes and other animals that Haitians don't see every day, earning tips from impromptu audiences. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo via Matt Dayhoff)

Kayla DiCello of the U.S. in action during the Women's All-Around Final at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, October 21, 2021. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

The geese in March, Cambs, UK on August 25, 2025. The family of around 20 white waterfowl have been a fixture in March, Cambs, for years and have made their mark by regularly waddling to the high street. (Photo by South West News Service)

A Chinkara gazelle fawn rests in the plumage of a peacock at an animal rescue center on a hot summer day in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Photo by Dinesh Gupta/AP Photo)

A robot named “Robovie-II”, developed by Japanese robotics research institution ATR, moves around at a grocery store during a shopping assisting experiment by utilizing the robot in an ubiquitous network technology platform in Kyoto, western Japan January 6, 2010. (Photo by Yuriko Nakao/Reuters)

American actress Dakota Johnson at the Red-Carpet World Premiere of Columbia Pictures' MADAME WEB at the Regency Village Westwood Theater on February 12, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stewart Cook/Getty Images for Sony Pictures)