$130 for one minute of internet

The other day we got a tour of the satellite communication facilities at the Pole. It gave us a whole new appreciation of the internet connectivity. South Pole station uses two satellites for their communication GOES and TDRS. There is about 9 hours of satellite coverage per day at the Pole. The technology is 30 years old. GOES is an old weather satellite and TDRS belongs to NASA. We get bandwidth when NASA doesn't use it for other higher priority missions such as shuttle lounges. The satellite connection is equivalent to a T1 line. A satellite engineer is at the station to keep it all running. Satellite coordinates have to be uploaded every few days, the old communication dishes have to be oiled and greased. The server motors for the GOES dish require to be kept at room temperature all year round. This is a place to warm up. The IceCube experiment can transfer about 60-80GB a day via satellite.