India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pole

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Singha
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by Singha »

the hindu
First Indian scientific expedition to South Pole takes off

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The scientific establishment is all set to add one more feather to its cap with the Union Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan launching the first Indian scientific expedition to the magical South Pole on Monday evening.

An eight-member team led by the Director of National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Rasik Ravindra, is to leave ‘Maitri,' the Indian station on the Antarctica, for the South Pole on November 8 and return by the middle of December.
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by Bade »

Experts team for Antarctica
New Delhi, Nov. 1: A 62-year-old glaciologist and Antarctic-veteran will lead the country’s first expedition to the South Pole — a 2,200km journey across icy and crevassed terrain from India’s Antarctic outpost to the pole this week.

Rasik Ravindra, director of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) in Goa, will lead the eight-member expedition that comes three decades after India’s first expedition to Antarctica — and 99 years after humans first touched the South Pole.

The team of scientists and logistics personnel will travel in ice trucks, conducting studies of snow chemistry, the continent’s bedrock topography, the atmosphere, and glacial landforms along the way. The return-trip back to Maitri, India’s Antarctic outpost, is expected to take about 40 days.

Although it is summer in Antarctica, the maximum temperatures the team is likely to encounter will be below -15°C. “As we move closer to the pole, we also gain altitude and average temperatures are expected to be –45°C,” Ravindra told The Telegraph.

The team members include only scientists who have previously spent winters in Antarctica and are familiar with the challenges that the continent offers. Ravindra was the leader of India’s wintering team during 1989-91, and has visited Maitri five times.

The other members include Mirza Javed Beg, a geologist and head of logistics at NCAOR, Thamban Meloth, an ice-core drilling expert, Ajay Dhar, a geophysicist, Asit Swain, a scientist with the Geological Survey of India, Pradip Malhotra, a central government health scheme doctor, and Krishna Murthy and Surat Singh, ice truck experts.

The South Pole is located on a plateau about 2,835m above sea level and marks the southern end of the Earth’s axis of rotation. The area around the pole is featureless except for hardened ridges of ice on the surface.

The team won’t be the first Indians to reach the pole. In the 1970s, Paramjit Singh Sehra had done that as part of a Soviet expedition. And in 1989, another Indian, Colonel J.K. Bajaj, had also visited the South Pole as part of an international expedition.
Fidel Guevara
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by Fidel Guevara »

Singha wrote:the hindu
First Indian scientific expedition to South Pole takes off

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The scientific establishment is all set to add one more feather to its cap with the Union Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan launching the first Indian scientific expedition to the magical South Pole on Monday evening.

An eight-member team led by the Director of National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Rasik Ravindra, is to leave ‘Maitri,' the Indian station on the Antarctica, for the South Pole on November 8 and return by the middle of December.
India has had an Antarctic base for scientific research for 25 years or more, starting with Dakshin Gangotri back in the 80's. How come this is suddenly the first "scientific" expedition? Were the meteorologists and geologists stationed there playing gulli danda till now?

"Magical" South Pole - DDM strikes again!! :rotfl:
sanjaykumar
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by sanjaykumar »

This is a trek to the pole itself.

Damnnn I wish I were part of it.
Gus
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by Gus »

Fidel Guevara wrote:India has had an Antarctic base for scientific research for 25 years or more, starting with Dakshin Gangotri back in the 80's.
That's what I thought when I read 'Maitri' as the base. I too remember the name Dakshin Gangotri from my school books back in 80s.
ramana
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by ramana »

This one is an Indian expedition to the South Pole itself.

I too was flummoxed as Dakshin Gangtori and Maitri were already there in Antartica. Used to spend time locating them on atlas!
Bade
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by Bade »

The first Indian lady geologist who made it Antartica from India was from my under-grad madrassah.

Wish some day we will have full fledged Cosmic Ray physics experiments like AMANDA in Antartica, and my pet idea of a ground station to receive polar orbit data 24/7 with no loss of coverage. I hear that it is is in the works now ;-)
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

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http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-ind ... -pole.html




Rasik Ravindra, head of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, is to lead a team of seven Indian scientists on the 40-day expedition from an Indian research base in the Antarctic to the South Pole.

"No one has taken the route we will be taking to the South Pole," the 62-year-old researcher told AFP from the state-run centre headquartered in the seaside Goa resort state.

The expedition is part of India's ambition of drawing international attention to its scientific presence in the desolate, icy region, scientists say.

A Russian-built Ilyushin-76 plane will fly out Ravindra's scientists to the frozen continent via Cape Town in South Africa.

"We will then traverse up 1,200 feet (3,300 metres) to the South Pole from Maitri, one of our Antartica bases which is 100 metres (330 feet) above sea level," he said.

Maitri, which means friendship in the Hindi language, was set up in 1989 on the ice-free rocky foundation of the Schirmacher oasis in Antartica.

The eight-member team will travel 2,400 kilometres (1,488) from Maitri to the South Pole.

The scientists will travel in vehicles specially designed for ice and will carry out wide-ranging experiments on the uncharted route to analyse climatic and other changes over the past 1,000 years, Ravindra said.

"We will conduct meteorological experiments, record humidity, temperatures, wind speed and atmospheric pressures during the 20-day trip to the South Pole and other experiments would be conducted on our way back," he said.

The experiments include geomorphology, a study of the movements of tectonic plates.

"We chose the expedition because no-one has gone on this track and things have changed over time so new data on variations will be available to us," he said.

"Everything is now linked to global warming," Ravindra said and added the team would spend just one or two days at the South Pole.

"There is no point in trying to re-invent the wheel as a US research station team is already working there," he said.

The team plan to bring air samples back to the Goa laboratory, as well as rocks collected for magnetism testing.

The research is expected to "add to the knowledge of how the ancient landmass, once fused with other continents in a super-continent before being separated 200 million years ago, has evolved," another official said.
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by Shankas »

Gus wrote:
Fidel Guevara wrote:India has had an Antarctic base for scientific research for 25 years or more, starting with Dakshin Gangotri back in the 80's.
That's what I thought when I read 'Maitri' as the base. I too remember the name Dakshin Gangotri from my school books back in 80s.
I remember seeing a documentary on Doordarshan way back in the Mid 80's. It showed the first journey and setting up of base camp at Dakshin Gangotri.

Similarly there was a documentary on Andaman Islands, where Govt. employees visit remote islands, jump from boats to drop food and radios and run back. The reason the inhabitants were cannibals.

Any place one can get these documentaries?
Bade
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

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There is official confirmation for an Indian Ground Station for satellite data dumps like the heavily used one in SvalBaard in Scandinavia.
India launched a polar sun synchronous satellite - OCEANSAT-2 with a payload of Ocean Color Monitor (OCM), Scatterometer, and Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmosphere (ROSA) for monitoring global ocean chlorophyll, ocean-surface winds and sea ice characteristics, and accurate measurements of the atmospheric refractive indices to derive, atmospheric vertical profiles of temperature, pressure and humidity, profiles of electron content in the ionosphere, respectively. "India (24°N, 76°E) & Larsemann Hills (69°S, 76°E) are located almost on the same longitude. It is possible to establish a communication link between these two locations through an Indian GEO stationary communication satellite with ground station elevation angles better than 10°. For other far locations, simultaneous visibility of the Indian GEO stationary satellite is not possible for this elevation angle."
Since satellite is visible for around 10 passes a day, over the proposed site the data can be transmitted to the Ground Station in every orbit. This site is also useful to collect the data from CARTO-1, CARTO-2A, and CARTO-2B, which are already in the orbit and also will be useful to receive data from RISAT-1.

Final CEE New Indian Research Station – Description and Need of the Proposed Activity
16
The proposed Earth station at Larsemann Hills (76o E), when established, would be extremely useful for having an extended coverage over the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean, as also the online transmission of data to archival centers in the mainland. The in situ data collected over the oceans near Larsemann Hills will help in validating ocean circulation models in the near future.
http://www.ncaor.gov.in/CEE-01-10-2010/ ... rt2of7.pdf
sanjaykumar
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by sanjaykumar »

Interesting but one would think data could be relayed satellite to satellite to ground station.
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by RamaY »

Gus wrote:
Fidel Guevara wrote:India has had an Antarctic base for scientific research for 25 years or more, starting with Dakshin Gangotri back in the 80's.
That's what I thought when I read 'Maitri' as the base. I too remember the name Dakshin Gangotri from my school books back in 80s.
Reminds me of the incident my father told me.

My father was a school teacher (between 1950s-1990s). One of his students wanted to study BiPC in intermediate but didn't get admission into that group in 11th standard. He got admission into geography group and was upset. He sought my father's advise as he thought Geography is low to his academic skills (people still believe that taking MPC and BiPC (Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology) group indicates the intelligence of the student)

My father told him that if studying Geography is such an easy task, he should excel in it and be the top or second authority in that subject. Few years later the student revisited my father and humbly told him that he is member of the Indian expedition to Antarctica.

I was 8-9 years old when my father told me this.
Bade
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by Bade »

sanjaykumar wrote:Interesting but one would think data could be relayed satellite to satellite to ground station.
But for that you need to have 3-4 geostationary assets across the globe...like the TDRS system. This is relatively cheaper and permanent and justifies the Antartic investments for other uses.
sanjaykumar
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by sanjaykumar »

http://www.ncaor.gov.in/

India’s first South Pole Expedition team reached Capetown, South Africa by air from Mumbai (via Dubai) on early hours of 3rd November 2010. Dr. Rasik Ravindra, leader of South Pole expedition and team members will leave from Cape Town to Antarctica on November 6 by ALCI flight. The team will reach the Flying Station on Antarctica (Novo airbase) on 7th November, which is 7 kilometers away from Indian station, Maitri. The traverse on polar region will start on November 10.
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Re: India launches 60 day scientific expedition to South Pol

Post by wig »

Indian scientists hoist tricolour at South Pole
Braving sub-zero temperatures and chilly winds, a team of Indian scientists today hoisted the tri-colour at the South Pole after a treacherous nine-day expedition.

"We feel at the top of the world at the bottom here," Rasik Ravindra, Director of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), told a tele-conference from the South Pole this evening.

The eight-member team of scientists and technicians raised the tri-colour at the South Pole at 0130 IST today, the first Indian scientific team to do so.

"It is very cold here. The current temperature in minus 70 degrees Celsius if you consider the chill factor," Ravindra said.

The team braved the icy winds and treacherous terrain to reach the South Pole — 90 degrees south latitude — to commemorate the centenary of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen's feat.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 970980.cms
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