LDB

LDB stands for Long Duration Balloon. It is one of the main scientific projects that occur around McMurdo that involves looking for Neutrinos cast off by the sun by launching a huge particle detector high into the atmosphere using a giant balloon. The balloon will circle around the Antarctic continent twice before they bring it down. They chose Antarctica for the launch site because it is mostly uninhabited and has a regular circular winds so its path is predictable and it won't come down accidentally on top of anybody. The LDB facility is about five miles from McMurdo on the permanent ice shelf, but you could see the launch from McMurdo, which is what these pictures are from. To give a hint of scale, the buildings seen there at LDB are the largest buildings on skis and are about three stories tall.