Washington, DC.- The Navy Art Gallery is closed while waiting for its new facility to open later in 2012, but you can still see much of the artwork through their website in the form of their special on-line exhibitions. The largest of these is “Operation Deep Freeze: 1955-56”, which features works by Standish Backus (1910-1989) and Robert Charles Haun (1903-1975). Operation Deep Freeze I was the codename for a series of scientific expeditions to Antarctica in 1955-56. The impetus behind these expeditions was the International Geophysical Year 1957-58. IGY, as it was known, was a collaboration effort between forty nations to carry out earth science studies from the North Pole to the South Pole and at points in between. The United States, along with Great Britain, France, Japan, Norway, Chile, Argentina, and the U.S.S.R agreed to go the South Pole–the least explored area on Earth. Their goal: to advance world knowledge of Antarctic hydrography and weather systems, glacial movements, and marine life. The U.S. Navy was charged with supporting the U.S. scientists for their portion of the IGY studies.