3 March 2010

Antarctica- Science On The Ice (Parts 1-4)

Posted by Dan Satterfield

Ann Posegate of the National Env. Education Foundation and I made a joint application to the NSF to visit the science bases in Antarctica. Ann also writes for the wildy popular Capital Weather Gang at the Washington Post. Click this image to see her posts about our trip!

Ann Posegate of the National Env. Education Foundation and I made a joint application to the NSF to visit the science bases in Antarctica. Ann also writes for the wildly popular Capital Weather Gang at the Washington Post. Click this image to see her posts about our trip!

We have finished airing, on WHNT- TV, the 4 part series on Antarctica. All 4 parts are available to watch on this post but the movies are small. Ann Posegate and I actually shot in HD and in coming weeks I will edit some of the HD video together and put it online.

We have just skimmed some of the science and for my fellow nerds, we have some beautiful pictures and interviews to tell and show.

Here is Part One covering the trip to McMurdo, the largest science base in Antarctica.

Sign at Amundsen- Scott Station at the South Pole.

Sign at Amundsen- Scott Station at the South Pole.

Part Two covers the first few days at McMurdo, and attending survival school. This school is required for anyone who wants to leave McMurdo and go to a field camp. It’s easy to forget that Antarctica can be a dangerous place. The nearest real hospital is 3,000 miles away. Serious injuries have to be evacuated back to Christchurch. If the weather is bad, that could be days.
I also showed the great Rugby match at the bottom of the world. The USA McMurdo Base plays Scott base New Zealand every year. The Kiwis live and breath rugby.  The USA lost this year as always. They did score a point one year I’m told. (See my earlier post for  pictures)
Part three covers the Dry valleys and Cape Royds. Shackelton’s Hut is at Cape Royds and is an amazing place. It is frozen in time by the cold and dry air of Antarctica. Ann Posegate shot the great video of the Penguins below. We were on he sea ice near Cape Royds.
Part three for TV is below:
Another video from Ann of the Penguins is here.
Ice crystals in the air produce a beautiful sky at the South Pole. It's unlike anything I have ever seen. Ann Posegate's image.

Ice crystals in the air produce a beautiful sky at the South Pole. It's unlike anything I have ever seen. Ann Posegate's image.

Part 4 covers the trip to the South Pole itself.

It is an amazing place and I am so very lucky to have had the opportunity to stand at the very bottom of the world.

It’s hard to know for sure but estmates are that only around 4-6 thousand people in all of human history have stood at the South Pole. After Amundsen and Scott made it in 1911, there was no one else until 1952!

About 45 people will winter over at the Pole this winter. The last flight out has already left. I would give anything to have the opportunity to visit  again someday. Some of the most important science in the World is being conducted there and on the polar ice cap.

Part 4:

You can see all of the posts I have written about Antarctica HERE.
Ann’s blog with video and pictures is HERE.
Vince's Cross at Hut Point near McMurdo Base in Antarctica. The cost of science can be very high indeed.

Vince's Cross at Hut Point near McMurdo Base in Antarctica. The cost of science can be very high indeed.

We shot our video in high definition, and we’ll put some clips up soon of the interviews with scientists and of the incredible scenery.

Ann and I both put a very high priority on sharing our story with students. We are already working on material for teachers and we will gladly answer any questions!

The National Science Foundation selected us to share the story of those who travel far away from their families to a harsh environment to do science.
They do it for the same reason that humans have always done it.
Curiosity about this small fragment of sand on the shore of an unfathomably vast universe that we call home.

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