The outpost is used as a helicopter refueling station supporting scientific research in the nearby continental interior, such as the McMurdo Dry Valleys.

Dependent upon the weather conditions at the time, helicopters are able to fly in and out of the station 24 hours a day during the summer research season.

[2] It supports operations at nearby McMurdo (US) and Scott (NZ) facilities on Ross Island, and was established in the mid-1950s, like those installations.

United States military forces built the camp on the western shores of McMurdo Sound in 1956 in conjunction with the forthcoming 1957–58 International Geophysical Year (IGY).

Contemporary Marble Point is staffed during the austral summer by a station manager, cook, and a "fuelie," a person who fuels helicopters (typically AStar and Bell 212's contracted by the United States Antarctic Program and Antarctica New Zealand, owned and operated by Petroleum Helicopters International).

Hot meals and minimal overnight accommodations for 14 are available for pilots and personnel traveling to and from inland research operations.

United States Antarctic Program workers conducted a concerted cleanup at the station during the 1989–1990 and 1990–1991 summer research seasons.

Each austral summer, a United States Coast Guard icebreaker busts a ship channel to Marble Point in order to deliver helicopter fuel.