>>1070807I got lucky and after a year of begging got to tag along with NSF to Amundsen-Scott a few years ago. It was cool to stay for a couple days, but I couldn't live there more than a week or two, especially during winter. Definitely changed my opinion on the feasibility of working there like I had wanted to. Everyone there gets a thorough psychological evaluation before they arrive, but only a few are unaffected by the conditions and most people need several months to recover mentally after going home. The isolation and culture/environment take a toll even on the toughest people who are cleared fit to work there.
Also keep in mind that solar panels only work half the year and only in good weather, and wind turbines have to be maintained and deiced just like anything else mechanical. Water and heating said water is definitely an issue as it's rationed pretty carefully due to limited fuel reserves. Believe it or not there is internet access, but it's slow and only available intermittently for basic purposes (i.e no browsing and torrenting movies and vidya). Supply planes come in multiple times during the summer, to the point where there can be several flights per day, although not all of them are delivering essentials. Land supply happens too, mostly for fuel deliveries.
If you want a sustainable and somewhat self sufficient habitat in Antarctica, you would need to dig a very large hole in terrain that isn't going to shift frequently, then cover the top with a massive geodesic dome or something to create a greenhouse inside. Probably couldn't find suitable soil under the permafrost so you'd need to import it and then recycle it between crops. You could insulate tunnels and rooms and use solar panels and wind turbines to generate power, but again these have to be maintained even in the middle of winter with extremely strong winds at -100F. Also the entire operation would probably need to be above or nearly above a subglacial lake for fresh water access.
