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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I've just reviewed the tz database for the first
time and want to complement all the contributors. </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>My contribution has to do with time at the South Pole.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Information is a bit dated (1999), but in her book
</FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for
Survival at the South Pole, Dr. Jerri Nielsen relates that the South Pole
Amundsen/Scott Station changes the time it observes based on the
</FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>season (Summer or Winter). In the
summer season, the station observes the same time standards as McMurdo Station
(to make it easier to co-ordinate supply flights - Note: McMurdo, in turn,
orients their clocks to their NZ supply bases in Christchurch). Once the
station is closed to flights (temperatures drop below the point where jet fuel
turns to gel), they switch their clocks to co-ordinate with the schedules of
their administrative support team (US contractor) in Englewood, Colorado.
They remain on that time until flights restart in the Antarctic Summer. As
the dates vary with local climatic conditions, I'm not sure that it is possible
to code a "prospective" algorithm. Also, time zone seems a bit irrelevant
in a location which sees total darkness for six months of the year, the sun
never gets more than 23.5 degrees above the horizon, and twilight lasts several
weeks before sunrise and after sunset. (all are described in the
book).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>BTW, Nielsen's book is fascinating, not just from
the perspective of an individual battling cancer in a truly (i.e., no external
access for nine months) isolated location, but also from her description of what
life is like at the polar station. Living in cramped, cold quarters with
several dozen people for nine months where water is strictly rationed because of
the energy required to melt it reminds me of some of the descriptions I've read
about the space stations and their UNIQUE fragrance.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I read somewhere that the contractor the National
Science Foundation uses was changed recently, so I am not sure whether they
are continuing to follow this timezone practice. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Which brings up the question, what time does the
International Space Station run on (Houston, UTC?) and should it be included in
the tz files?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>When Rutan and Yeager made their
round-the-world-without-refueling flight, what time did they observe? What
time do International flights which cross time zones observe?
Inquiring minds want to know . . . ;-) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ken Levy</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>