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.

People walk down the street while Hurricane Matthew approaches in Port-au-Prince, Haiti October 3, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Model feebee poses as part of art installation “Dazzle room” made by artist Shigeki Matsuyama at Room 32 fashion and design exhibition in Tokyo, Friday, February 19, 2016. Matsuyama's installation features a strong contrast of black and white, which he learned from dazzle camouflage used mainly in World War I, in Tokyo, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. (Photo by Shuji Kajiyama/AP Photo)

Members of the Albert Battery perform a gun salute during the Anzac Day dawn service held by the Currumbin RSL on the Gold Coast in Currumbin, Australia, 25 April 2016. The Anzac day marks the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) troops at Gallipoli in what is today Turkey during WWI. World War One, also called the Great War, according to official statistics cost more than 37 million military and civilian casualties between 1914 and 1918. (Photo by Glenn Hunt/EPA)

Ng Sin Nee (L) and Lee Shin May (R) from Malaysia take pictures with the panoramic view of the city from the Sky Box at KL Tower, the world's seventh tallest telecommunications tower, in Kuala Lumpur on May 24, 2016. Officially opened on May 20, the Sky Box has been the latest attraction for tourists arriving to the Malaysian capital. It stands 300 metres above ground and can fit six people at any one time, and offers spectacular views of the Kuala Lumpur skyline, including the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

People take pictures with their mobile phone of a scale model of a dinosaur displayed in front of La Sapienza University headquarters in Rome April 10, 2015. The realistic reproductions of dinosaurs are part of the “Dinosaurs in the flesh, science and art bring to life the rulers of a lost world” exhibition. (Photo by Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)

A young Thai man jumps in the air and cheers as his rocket takes off at the Bun Bang Fai Rocket Festival on May 10, 2015 in Yasothon, Thailand. During the Bun Bang Fai rocket festival, Thai residents launch enormous home-made rockets into the air to gain Buddhist merit and to celebrate the beginning of the rainy season. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images)

Filipino Muslims ride on top of a vehicle as they celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan in Cotabato city, in southern Philippines, July 16, 2015. Picture taken July 16, 2015. (Photo by Marconi Navales/Reuters)