It may be summer in the Southern Hemisphere, but in Antarctica, it looks like winter year-round, and scientific research goes on there year-round as well.

About 80 years ago, in December 1911, a team led by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first to reach the South Pole. A month later, British explorer Robert Scott and his team also made it, but they died on the return trip. In 1957, the United States established a research station at the Pole, named in honor of the two explorers. While Scott made most of his journey on foot, Amundsen used skis.

Today, planes flying in and out of the Amundsen-Scott research station also use skis because Antarctica has no asphalt runways. These planes, flown by specially trained Navy and Air National Guard crews, only make the trip between October and February because the fierce cold and continuous darkness make it too dangerous the rest of the year.