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 schoolgirl collects rubbish from Karachi's Clifton beach early morning April 22, 2013, during a cleaning campaign as part of the commemoration of Earth Day. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)

Rescue workers try to help a driver out of his car, after the vehicle was stuck over an alley in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, August 4, 2014. The car rolled off the edge of a road after the driver was late to brake, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

German carmaker Daimler's new Smart Fortwo car is seen on display during its world premiere in Berlin July 16, 2014. Daimler is betting that cooperation with Renault and the launch of models to tap growing demand for city cars may pave the way for its diminutive Smart brand to become profitable. Smart will add a new four-seater model to its lineup this year and upgrade the two-passenger Fortwo vehicle, raising hopes by the German group of boosting the brand's flagging sales. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Protester Nadine Wolf demonstrates against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) outside the offices of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on January 18, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Juno, a Beluga whale, greets a young viewer at the Mystic aquarium in Connecticut, USA on December 5, 2015. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis)

Police officers stand near a fishing boat, the Carolina Queen III, as it rests in shallow water just off Rockaway Beach, Thursday, February 25, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York. Authorities say a Coast Guard vessel overturned while assisting the fishing boat that ran aground in an inlet off New York City. (Photo by Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)

A girl sticks out her tongue during snowfalls on a street in Hefei, Anhui province February 13, 2014. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)