Ultimate road trip
The primary South Pole operations Traverse (SPoT) spent nearly 100 days away from McMurdo Station during the 2012-13 season, traveling more than 3,500 miles across the Ross Ice Shelf and East Antarctica. A windy day blows snow across the tractor train as it climbs the Leverett Glacier to the polar plateau. Image © Ryan Wallace
New South Pole Marker
The new South Pole Marker in Antarctica, has been revealed and set in place, and honors planets, Pluto and Niel Armstrong. The new marker shows the position of the planets as viewed from the Pole on January 1, 2013. Image © Jeffrey Donenfeld
Where is the coldest place on Earth?
The coldest place on Earth recorded at the Vostok research station in Antarctica on July 21, 1983 (winter in South Pole). Temperatures dropped to astonishing -89.2oC (-128.6oF)! Lake Vostok composite image – image NASA
Google Maps- 360 degree views of Antarctica (video)
New 360 degree views with panoramic imagery of historic Antarctic locations are part of Google’s World Wonders site, where you can find out more about the history of the exploration of South Pole. The Ceremonial South Pole captured on Google Maps. Image credit: Google
2012 Noctilucent Cloud season begins
Noctilucent Clouds (NLCs) turn on every year in late spring, reaching almost full intensity over a period of no more than 5 to 10 days, and the bulb is glowing. These electric-blue ice clouds hang 53 miles (85 km) above Earth’s surface, at the edge of space itself, circling the north and South Pole regions. NLCs over Canada on June 13, 2012. Image credit: flying photographer Brian Whittaker.
South Pole hits record high temperature
According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), on Christmas Day the South Pole recorded its highest temperature on record: 9.9F (-12.3C).
A Century at the South Pole
acquired 1911
acquired 2011
On the morning of December 14 the weather was of the finest, just as if it had been made for arriving at the Pole. I am not quite sure, but I believe we despatched our breakfast rather more quickly than usual and were out of the tent sooner, though I must admit that we always accomplished this with all reasonable haste….
Youngest person to ski to the South Pole
Amelia Hempleman-Adams, 16-year-old British schoolgirl, becomes the youngest person to ski to the South Pole. Her father David Hempleman-Adams was the first Briton to reach the South Pole solo and unsupported. She joined her adventurer dad on the two-week, 97-mile (156-kilometre) trek to the South Pole from explorer Ernest Shackleton’s Farthest South Point.
Polar Expedition Vehicle
In December 2011, the Polar Expedition Vehicle by Ian Nisbett Design will attempt to smash the Guinness World Record for the fastest Antarctic land crossing- exactly 100 years since the previous record holder’s accomplishment. The PEV also represents a new era in faster, more flexible polar exploration.
