Raytheon Polar Services Company

Raytheon Polar Services Company (RPSC) is a division of Raytheon that provided logistics, operations, and staffing for the National Science Foundation's operations in Antarctica and Antarctic waters. Its contract with the United States Antarctic Program 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 by Military Sealift Command contract ships
Providing marine terminal operations
Complying with safety, health, and environmental requirements

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 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.^[1]

References

↑ Booker, Jarrod (September 25, 2008). "NZ probe into death hits icy wall". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2015-02-15.

External links

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