Eighteen days had passed in the icy land of Antarctica, arriving at the airport according to the schedule have seemed to be the finest warm homecoming. After nearly three weeks journeying the bottom of the world, four members of the expedition to Antarctica was home for a hero’s welcome. This is just an unbelievable emotional event, this is history. You will find that further information on Antarctic Cruising is on that site.
A homecoming celebration was prepared when the arrival day of Antarctica’s scientific expedition finally came after the unwanted weather restricted them for about 10 additional days. Close relatives and peers sat on the black plastic airport chairs peep in at the large windows on the landing field and glancing at their watches about an hour before the airplane had reached its destination. Down the aisle, 25 students gathered together with instructors and parents, nibbling turkey sandwiches and were about to pamper their teacher with embrace.
Troops welcome a bouquet of heart shaped balloons, a dozen roses and a stack of hand made sign welcome signs bearing images of penguins. The four team members brought two backpacks of meteorites which will be taken photographs, cut open and experimented and shared tales about their accomplished mission. The expedition also composed two retired NASA astronauts, a scientist from NASA and a Chicago resident who contributed significantly in funding part of the expedition. The mission directed the team to the Patriot Hills of Antarctica, South Pole and Thiel Mountains even though it is not so high as the Rockies, but just as spectacular.
For the technology that was taken during the trip there was a complaint from a team member back in the States. It was the satellite phones he found to be failures. A constant reminder of what they could not have with them was what these were. He will be back at where he serves as professor of astronomy and geology, readjusting to life on a populated continent. Read this site if you want cruises to antartica information.
These people have been in similar escapades in unfamiliar territories like this one. Last summer was when two of them went to Turkey with a scientific team for the solar eclipse seen from the coast of the Black Sea. Their unanticipated stay in the Antarctic was somewhat similar to what they experienced when they were over there. What they went for was the eclipse but in the end they stayed for something else which was a massive earthquake. Luckily the two were 200 miles away from the epicenter of the earthquake and so they only encountered a magnitude of 5.5.
Apart from the blue ice fields and the snow covered scenery he also considered camaraderie as the best part on the trip and Antarctica was a far better experience. He said that the group of explorers, including a retired NASA scientist, was a rather exclusive club. Aside from being easy to approach this group was actually down to earth. Fun and not egos were favored. Everything from cross country skiing to snowmobiling to reading and talking were done in Antarctica even for their unanticipated stay.
In front of reporters and staff members a month ago there was a 24 year old team member who shared that her outfit for the trip would consist of heavy gloves, boots, goggles, and an energetic smile. She wore a cheerful smile upon returning with some sneakers, jeans, and a sweatshirt. She was chosen to go on the mission to a Mars like continent because she was fond of space science. Once in a lifetime was this learning experience for the students. What makes learning real for kids is tying everything in. Much exposure for kids to science and history is possible with an explorer for a teacher.
She used the trip to perform scientific experiments on rocks, gravity and temperature the same experiments students were doing back home. What they used to send the data to the 11 classrooms were satellite phone and email. It was extremely funny hearing all the questions and answers. Amusing were the differences in all the answers given. For this teacher, she was able to teach the students that results are susceptible to change when you are in a snowy desert with temperatures that can well go below zero.
Tags: Aantarctica Trip, antarctica, vacation
