. Military Space News .
Lenin Greets Antarctic Adventurers

Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin.
by Staff Writers
Sydney (AFP) Jan 23, 2007
A team of British and Canadian adventurers has described the "surreal" experience of arriving at the most remote point in Antarctica -- only to find a bust of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin. The team was the first to reach the Pole of Inaccessibility (POI), the point on the Antarctic continent that is farthest from all surrounding seas, on foot. But an expedition from the former Soviet Union, using huge mechanised snow vehicles, reached the pole in 1958 and set up a small camp there.

"When we were within six kilometres of the position signalled on the GPS we noticed a black dot on the horizon," Teamn2i said on their website.

"As we got closer an outline of (a) bust started to appear -- we could not believe it as we were expecting at the very best a mound of snow from when Lenin was left there 48 years ago.

"He is standing on a chimney of the old Soviet hut about two meters above the snow line -- he is a shoulder bust of Lenin larger than life size.

"It is made of some plastic composite -- he is totally frost free as if he was put there yesterday. "It (is) so so very surreal. We are all so exhausted that we have only just put up the tent with Lenin's stern gaze over us!"

Britons Rory Sweet, Rupert Longsdon, Henry Cookson, who together won the 2005 Scott Dunn Polar Challenge, and Canadian Paul Landry reached the POI last Friday after a seven-week trek across the ice.

They had walked or used kite skis to cover more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) dragging 120 kilogram sleds. Details of the journey can be found on http://www.teamn2i.com/.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Related Links
Beyond the Ice Age

Scientists Observe Drumlin Beneath Ice Sheet
Swansea, UK (SPX) Jan 24, 2007
Scientists have discovered a warehouse-sized drumlin - a mound of sediment and rock - actively forming and growing under the ice sheet in Antarctica. Its discovery, and the rate at which it was formed, sheds new light on ice-sheet behaviour. This could have implications for predicting how ice sheets contribute to sea-level rise. The results are published this week in the journal Geology.







  • Russian Foreign Policy Independence An Implicit Imperative
  • US Hawks Bolstered By China Weapons Test In Space
  • Gates Returns Home After Road Testing New Strategy
  • Citizen Bush

  • EU Moves To Fully Implement Iran Sanctions
  • Iran Launches Missile Tests Amid Fresh Nuclear Defiance
  • US Envoy Says He Hopes North Korea Talks Resume Very Soon
  • Iran Says Forces Ready For Any Threat

  • Javelin Joint Venture Earns Logistics Award For Supporting The Warfighter
  • Pakistan Chooses Raytheon's Proven Air Defense Missiles To Secure Borders
  • General Dynamics Awarded $425M For Missile Systems By Spanish Army
  • Raytheon Receives Contracts For Standard Missile-1 Support Services

  • US To Start Talks On Eastern Europe Missile Defence System
  • US Requests Official Talks Over Czech Anti-Missile Installation
  • China Encourages World-Wide Ballistic Missile Proliferation By Its Actions Says ABM Lobby
  • Israel Facing Critical Decision On ABM Roadmap

  • Lockheed Martin And Boeing Form Strategic Alliance To Promote Next-Gen Air Transportation System
  • Time to test the Guardian Missile Defense System For Commercial Aircraft
  • Operational Testing And Evaluation Of Guardian Commercial Airline Anti-Missile System Begins
  • USGS Examines Environmental Impacts Of Aircraft De-Icers

  • Athena Technologies Guidance and Navigation System Selected Watchkeeper UAV Program
  • Enhanced Fire Scout Makes Flight Debut
  • Israel Developing Massive New Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
  • Boeing Provides ScanEagle UAV to Australian Army

  • So What Next For Iraq
  • A Surge About Nothing
  • Al-Qaeda Claims It Shot Down US Helicopter In Iraq
  • Et Tu Maliki

  • New Strategy Means New Training Plan
  • New Details Of First Major Urban Battle Emerge
  • The Death Of US Air Power
  • Pentagon Report Warns Canadian Coins Bugged

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement