from Antarctic Sun

Ten years ago, the idea to drive across more than 1,000 miles of Antarctic wilderness between McMurdo and South Pole  stations as an alternative way to supply the latter with fuel and cargo was just an audacious idea.

[Ignored is any mention of the “snow Cruiser” taken to Antarctica with much fan fair and never to be mentioned again after offloading in Antarctica. See link below . . . EDITOR]

Now, Traverse Operations has two traverse platforms, South Pole Traverse 1 and 2 (SPoT1 and SPoT2), each making a round trip every austral summer between the U.S. Antarctic Program research stations. It saves the National Science Foundation upwards of $2 million for each swing across the continent. And, perhaps in the next couple of years, the tractor train will partially drive itself, using “robotic” vehicles capable of autonomously following a manned tractor in front of it. . . . Read Complete Article

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dig Deeper: “Admiral Byrd’s 1939 Antarctic Expedition & the Mysterious Snow Cruiser”.