Polar Programs, it has responsibility for a range of day-to-day functions including preparing an annual budget and operational plans for consideration by the executive branch and for review and appropriation by Congress; obtaining advice from the scientific community, as needed, to develop scientific goals for NSF-supported research in Antarctica; evaluating and supporting proposals for research and education from U.S. universities, other research institutions, and federal agencies; detailed planning of logistics and transmitting logistics requirements, along with necessary funds, to elements of the Department of Defense and the United States Coast Guard; managing facilities, including the planning, design, engineering, construction, and maintenance of Antarctic infrastructure; developing a government support contract and managing a contractor charged with operating Antarctic stations and research vessels and providing related services, including construction; developing and implementing a comprehensive safety, environmental, and health program for U.S. activities in Antarctica; arranging cooperative scientific and logistics programs with other Antarctic Treaty nations; designating a senior U.S. representative in Antarctica and ensuring on-site management of field programs in Antarctica; and serving as a clearinghouse and source of information regarding Antarctic records, files, documents, and maps maintained within agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Support contractors Leidos is currently the prime contractor supporting the USAP. Leidos manages a team that includes partner companies performing specific support functions. Together, the companies comprising the support contractor are known collectively as the Antarctic Support Contract (ASC). Department of Defense The DoD provides logistical support to the Program, including airlift between Christchurch, New Zealand and McMurdo Station, continental transport aboard ski-equipped C-130s, weather forecasting, air traffic control and shipborne fuel and cargo delivery support. NASA NSF partners with NASA to conduct a range of scientific research in Antarctica, with the NSF-managed Antarctic Program providing the logistical support for this scientific work. It maintains a long-duration balloon facility at McMurdo Station to launch scientific payloads into the stratosphere suspended from large helium balloons. In addition, the McMurdo ground station downloads data from about a dozen polar orbiting satellites. NOAA NOAA maintains a facility at the South Pole that monitors the hole in the ozone layer and maintains long-term records of the relative balance of gases in the atmosphere. One of the longest and most complete record of gasses such as carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere comes from the South Pole. They also partner with the NSF for transportation to and from their penguin research facility in the South Shetland