Raytheon Polar Services Company (RPSC) was a division of Raytheon that provided logistics, operations, and staffing for the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
's operations in Antarctica and Antarctic waters. Its contract with the
United States Antarctic Program
The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has presence in the A ...
expired on March 30, 2012.
Operational Role
The US Antarctic Program Participant Guide lists RPSC's role in Antarctica as the following:
* Supporting science and operating research labs
* Procuring, arranging for transport, warehousing, and issuing equipment and supplies
* Operating and maintaining stations, research vessels, and numerous field camps
* Arranging medical clearance and travel of parties
* Managing transportation of passengers and cargo
* Arranging annual resupply and fuel of
McMurdo
Vice-Admiral Archibald McMurdo (24 September 1812 – 11 December 1875) was a Scottish naval officer and polar explorer after whom Antarctica's McMurdo Sound, McMurdo Station, McMurdo Ice Shelf, McMurdo Dry Valleys and McMurdo–South Pole ...
by
Military Sealift Command contract ships
* Providing marine terminal operations
* Complying with safety, health, and environmental requirements
Raytheon Polar Services operates the
Antarctic Fire Department.
Criticism
Raytheon Polar Services Company has been criticized for failing to cooperate fully in New Zealand's investigation of
Rodney Marks's death. Marks died in 2000 from
methanol poisoning
Methanol toxicity (also ''methanol poisoning'') is poisoning from methanol, characteristically via ingestion. Symptoms may include a decreased level of consciousness, poor or no coordination, hypothermia, vomiting, abdominal pain, and a specific s ...
while working at the
Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. New Zealand police and the coroner, Richard McElrea, said Raytheon and the National Science Foundation failed to provide full and prompt information to the authorities. New Zealand police believe there was a private U.S. investigation into the death, which the U.S. organizations refused to disclose.
In 2007, two employees of Raytheon had to be evacuated from the South Pole Station after one broke the other's jaw in a "drunken Christmas punch-up".
References
External links
Raytheon Polar ServicesUSAP Program Participant Guide, 2008-2010Defense Contract Audit Agency review of Raytheon Polar Services Company
National Science Foundation
Raytheon Company
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