"If you would have told me in January 2005 when we deployed the first string that in 2010 we would be installing the last, all without mishap, I would have said that's impossible," Halzen said.

Considering the conditions, mishaps seemed almost a certainty.

The construction season at the South Pole is just three months long during the Southern Hemisphere's summer, which is opposite of ours.

The average summer temperature? Minus 18.

Plus, the workers toil at 10,000 feet above sea level, which makes walking more difficult, let alone wrestling around heavy cables, pipes and other equipment.

Another challenge is the bone-dry air, which causes the ends of fingers to split and bleed.

One of the staples in work crew pockets is Super Glue, used to seal and treat those painful wounds.

Karl A. Erb, the director of the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs, praised the researchers and workers who built the unique detector under such difficult conditions.

Most of the money for the project came from the National Science Foundation.