Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Blues for a Red Planet

When I was a kid my father had the opportunity to go to Antarctica with a Dr. Wolf Vishniac, but instead chose to take his sabbatical in New Hampshire. Dr. Vishniac was working on a project to develop a method to detect life on Mars as part of the Viking project. There is a section of Carl Sagan's Cosmos that talks of Vishniac's work. I got an email from my father worried that I could fall into a crevasse and die in Antarctica like his friend Dr. Wolf Vishniac.

Crevasse 

One of the dangers we face on this expedition is crevasses. 

Crevasses are cracks created by the movement of the ice. A crevasse can be over a hundred feet deep, and can be covered by snow bridges which if steped on, or on our case biked on can collapse, which obviously could be deadly. I found this video about being rescued from a crevasse.

 

I have to admit, it is scary. This is one of the reasons we will be taking an experienced guide with us a a big reason that I'm not wanting to do this solo. 

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