Ice Expert To Report On McMurdo Airstrip

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28169, 7 January 1957, Page 8

Ice Expert To Report On McMurdo Airstrip

Tests of the ability of the ice airstrip at McMurdo Sound to withstand pressure under load, and an examination of surface conditions so that the strip may again be used for operations, will be made by Dr. Andrew Assur shortly. Dr. Assur, assistant to the acting chief of the snow and ice research branch of the Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment at Wilmette. Illinois, said at a press conference on Saturday that his job was to determine when the strip would be operational again, and, incidentally, to gather data which would prove of use in the future. At the moment, potholes and slush—caused by high temperatures —have made the airstrip at McMurdo unusable. An extension is being built on the north side of the old strip. Dr. Assur said he would probably work on the old strip as he was sure that a crack. 3ft long and 4ft wide, which had developed in that rtrip had refrozen and would cause no trouble once it was filled in.

The strip was surrounded by shelf ice which moved, said Dr Assur, and he was sure that the crack ran the length of the strip. Improvement of the strip would depend entirely on lower temperatures for as the snow melted it filled the potholes and the water could not be drained away

No-one had expected that Globemasters could operate from an ice surface, and this was the first major operation of its kind from such a surface, said Dr. Assur. Even in summer, however. the ice would support the weight of the aircraft. Mathematics and Judgment Decisions about how safe the ice was, and when it could be used, depended partly upon experience. and partly upon the application of certain mathematical formulae, Dr. Assur said. The application of some equations would enable him to determine how long it would be, under given conditions, before potholes appeared in a runway. The methods involved quite a lot of mathematics and judgment, he said. As a scientist, he could not regard himself as concerned solely with operations, said Dr. Assur. He would make tests even if he were aware that, at the moment, they had no practical application. If, in some future war, operations had to be undertaken from pack ice. the data to ensure their success would thus be available, he said. The data would also be of use when commercial airlines inaugurated routes over Antarctica, he said, and it was probable that refuelling depots would be built on the edge of the ice shelf. The economies of New Zealand and Australia would be affected by this. The ice at McMurdo would be

tested for its strength throughout its thickness. Dr. Assur said. By watching the depression made by an aircraft landing over a period of time, it was possible to determine whether the ice was safe If the depression subsided no further operations could be continued.

Dr. Assur worked with Colonel H. A. Crosswell, the commander of the United States task force unit with the American Antarctic expedition, on distant early warning stations in Canada and Baffin Land. That work, together with some recently available information from Russian research on ice stations. had provided what knowledge of sea ice the United States possessed, said Dr. Assur. Both the present operations and the distant early warning line operations were the only ones of their kind, he said, as the Russians had not used heavy aircraft Dr. Assur took a degree in civil engineering from the University of Riga, and a degree in physics and geo-phvsics from the University of Hamburg. He worked with the Latvian ice service, and during the war with the German ice service. In 1951 he moved to the United States, and in 1954 joined the Snow. Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment. He is at present writing a technical work on ice mechanics. Dr. Assur has travelled widely on research work. “A few days ago I was at the northern most tip of Greenland.” he said. “I. came home and on Christmas Eve was told I had two days to prepare for my trip here. My wife was shocked when I told her. and said she was quite sure that next year I’d tell her I was going to take off for the moon.”