Exploring The Antarctica With A Cool Ice Vehicle

The Continent of Antarctica is beautiful but harsh. Its extreme cold weather, incessant cold winds and barren terrain, makes it a difficult place to explore. Now two brave souls, Andrew Regan and Andrew Moon are planning an expedition across the continent - led by a really cool ice vehicle.

Starting from the West coast of the Antarctica, the duo will cross over to the South Pole and then head north, through the Trans-Antarctica Mountain Range to the coast at McMurdo, spanning a total of 3,000 miles. The main goal of this expedition is to educate the world, both adults and children about climate change and the effects of global warming and how every one can help to reverse it before it is too late. Accordingly, they will be conducting several experiments along the way, the results of which will be posted live on their website, via blogs and web cameras.

Leading the mission will be an unmanned concept ice vehicle that operates on bio-fuel, created specially for this expedition by car company Lotus. The car, built to withstand temperatures as low as negative 72 degrees, can travel up to 84 km per hour, without harming the environment. Built entirely from microlight parts, the car weighs only 350 kgs - making it easy for the team to drag it over bumps, should it get stuck. Equipped with an ice-radar, the concept car will lead the way and scan for hidden crevasses in the ice.

Regan, Moon and the rest of their team will follow behind in two Science Supported Vehicles (SSV). The vehicles, which operate on very low emission bio-diesel fuel and are geared to break through the ice as they move. They are also equipped with solar power panels to provide additional energy. Electrical cars cannot be used because it is too cold for the battery and also there are no charging stations there.

Besides food and water supplies, the team is carrying state of the art communication equipment, with which they will send live updates to their site on a daily basis. In conjunction with their experiment results, they will also provide resources for students and teachers, to be able to use the concepts in the classroom. For more information about the expedition and the cool ice vehicle check out their website www.transantarcticexpedition.com/

Sources: www.dailygalaxy.com, www.pssfk.com, transantarcticexpedition.com