Abstract
A NOVEL feature of the new antarctic expedition which Admiral R. E. Byrd proposes to lead from the United States to the Ross Sea area is the snow cruiser which, according to Science Service, has been designed by Dr. T. C. Poulter of the Armour Institute of Technology. This mobile base is to be 55 ft. long and will travel on wheels 10 ft. in diameter. Propelled by petrol, it will have a cruising speed of twelve miles per hour and a top speed, on favourable surfaces, of twenty-five miles. Its range of action should be about five thousand miles. There are quarters for four men, a control cabin, engine room, machine shop, galley and laboratory. Supplies for a year can be carried. The scientific equipment of the snow cruiser includes seismic sounding outfit, gravimeter, and dip circle as well as survey instruments. The builder claims that this mobile base will allow more work to be done in one season than other expeditions have been enabled to do in several years. Its weight is not given but must be considerable, so that its range of movement will clearly depend much on surface conditions, which are always a deciding factor in any form of antarctic travel.
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Projected Antarctic Expedition. Nature 144, 825–826 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144825d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144825d0