The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has a presence in the Antarctica continent. Founded in 1959, the USAP manages all U.S. scientific research and related logistics in Antarctica as well as aboard ships in the Southern Ocean. United States Antarctic Program The United States established the U.S. Antarctic Research Program (USARP) in 1959—the name was later changed to the U.S. Antarctic Program—immediately following the success of the International Geophysical Year (IGY). Today, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has a Presidential Mandate to manage the United States Antarctic Program, through which it operates three year-round research stations and two research vessels, coordinates all U.S. science on the southernmost continent, and works with other federal agencies, the U.S. military, and civilian contractors, to provide the necessary logistical support for the science. The U.S. is a signatory to the Antarctic Treaty and the conduct of science is the principal expression of U.S. interest in the Antarctic. In October 1970 President Richard Nixon stated U.S. policy for Antarctica to be:[T]o maintain the Antarctic Treaty and ensure that this continent will continue to be used only for peaceful purposes and shall not become an area or object of international discord; to foster cooperative scientific research for the solution of worldwide and regional problems, including environmental monitoring and prediction and assessment of resources; and to protect the Antarctic environment and develop appropriate measures to ensure the equitable and wise use of living and non-living resources… Science has provided a successful basis for international accord, and the Antarctic is the only continent where science serves as the principal expression of national policy and interest."In 1970 and again in 1976 National Security Decision Memoranda (71 and 318) reaffirmed the "importance of maintaining an active and influential U.S. presence in the Antarctic that is 'responsive to U.S. scientific, economic, and political objectives.'" In February 1982 President Ronald Reagan in White House Memorandum 6646 reaffirmed the prior policy and noted that the presence in Antarctica shall include "the conduct of scientific activities in major disciplines" and "year-round occupation of the South Pole and two coastal stations." On 9 June 1994 Presidential Decision Directive NSC 26 ("United States Policy on the Arctic and Antarctic Regions") stated that U.S. policy toward Antarctica has