Pegasus Airfield, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Tremendous anticipation overwhelms the icy atmosphere for the arrival of the first flight in to Antarctic. After six months without a link to the 'living' world, the sun starts rising from total darkness and the tiny communities of McMurdo Station and Scott Base on Ross Island look forward to the first flight's arrival for a delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables and mail. The feeling of anticipation is coupled with apprehension. Members of the tight knit community become slightly anxious about the influx of new people who will inhabit the station - more than doubling the population that spent the winter on the Ice. The new people are orange in comparison to the winterover crew's pasty white sun-deprived skin. They are loud, healthy, excitable, and assume to know far more than the overworked, vitamin-D deficient folks who spent far more time in Antarctica than most people who arrive for the summer season.
Waiting and watching in an articulated passenger Delta, three men train their eyes on the horizon where a United States Air Force C-17 is due to drop beneath the clouds and land on the permanent Sea Ice Runway at Pegasus Field. Once the passengers and cargo are safely delivered to town, the winterovers will indulge in long-awaited mail along with apples, oranges, bananas, fresh cheese, carrots, and salads.