Abstract
Scott’s group the day after they discovered Amundsen had reached the pole a month earlier. Public domain
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Notes
- 1.
Peary, who subsisted almost entirely on pemmican on some of his longer journeys, was one of the greatest sledgers in the annals of polar exploration.
- 2.
The Antarctic left the Falklands on 5 November 1902, to pick up Nordenskjöld’s party, but couldn’t reach them because ice blocked the way. On 12 February 1903, the Antarctic sank 40 kilometers from Paulet Island and the shipwrecked crew began a harrowing journey across the ice. After 14 days, they struggled ashore on Paulet Island on 28 February 1903. Meanwhile, Nordenskjöld and his crew tried to reach Sidney Herbert Sound. From there they saw clear water to the south; they figured the Antarctic had reached the winter quarters on Snow Hill Island without difficulty so they returned to their depot at Hope Bay, where they waited for the ship to collect them. But when several weeks had gone by it dawned on them something had gone wrong. The men departed their hut on 29 September to search for the others, reaching Vega Island on 9 October and Cape Dreyfus on 12 October. The stranded men from the Antarctic survived in a crude hut on Paulet Island during the winter of 1903, killing seals and penguins (they killed 1,100) for food. In October, Carl Larsen took five of the crew and left for Hope Bay in the hope of contacting a rescue ship. The crew was finally rescued by the corvette Uruguay.
- 3.
For 36 very dark hours, Cherry-Garrard and his fellow explorers curled up in their sleeping bags, shivering and waiting as snow drifted around them. By some miracle, once the storm passed, the trio were still alive and they had all digits intact. Even more miraculous was the discovery of their tent, without which they had no chance of covering the final 100 kilometers to base camp. After carefully stowing the eggs, they began the trek to Cape Evans, their bodies growing weaker by the day. Five days later, drawing on unimaginable reserves of human courage and perseverance, they staggered back to camp, where their clothes had to be cut off because they had frozen solid 9.
- 4.
Martian dust is not only a problem for moving parts, it may also be poisonous. The red surface of Mars is that color because of the high levels of iron oxide. It is conceivable that the dusty Martian soil may be an oxidizer strong enough to burn organic compounds… human skin included. Worse, from what the Pathfinder mission has told us, this dust may also contain trace amounts of toxic metals such as hexavalent chromium - carcinogenic toxic waste in other words.
- 5.
In Flaws in the Ice, historian David Day suggests Mawson may not have been the hero everyone made him out to be. In his book Day claims Mawson put himself and Mertz on starvation rations, figuring his companion would die first, leaving Mawson with enough provisions to survive. If that wasn’t sensational enough, Day suggests a weakened Mawson may have eaten part of Mertz flesh to gain strength. Day’s claims are based on the study of Mawson’s records, as well as newly available diaries of other expedition members. Day’s book also raises questions about Mertz’s death and the extent to which Mawson was responsible for their predicament 14.
- 6.
In 1893, the Norwegians sailed north of Siberia in a deliberate attempt to get the Fram stuck in ice. They succeeded. After a year and a half, in 1895, they abandoned ship, headed for the North Pole, had to turn back at the 86th parallel, went south to Franz Josef Land, stayed another winter, went to Cape Flora, and were picked up by a passing ship August 1896. The Fram drifted with the ice from the Arctic to the Atlantic – later used by Roald Amundsen.
- 7.
The book started out as a self-published, serialized book on Weir’s website. This was followed by an indie ebook, which was in turn followed by a six-figure deal from Random House. The Martian has now been optioned by Hollywood.
- 8.
Franklin and his ships were the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 flight of its time. It has become a mythical story, featuring tragedy, cannibalism, heroism, and endurance. But not many facts. So, when it was announced on 9 September 2014 that one of Franklin’s ships had been found, it was headline news around the world. The discovery of one of Franklin’s fabled ships also marked one of the most exciting discoveries in a generation.
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Seedhouse, E. (2015). Surviving. In: Survival and Sacrifice in Mars Exploration. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12448-3_6
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