Early Antarctic flight

Press, 27 August 1979, Page 6

Early Antarctic flight

Fourteen New Zealand* ers left Christchurch for Antarctica at 2 a.m. today aboard the first Hercules winter flight. The party consists of four scientists and 10 drillers. The leader of the drilling team is Mr G. Varcoe of the D.S.I.R. Also on board is the executive officer of the New Zealand Antarctic Division, Mr N. McPherson. They form the vanguard of the Ministry of Works drilling team which will prepare the site for a big New Zealand research programme this year, due to begin in October when the

rest of the party, including several scientists, arrives. The flight is the earliest for such a big group of New Zealanders, according to the superintendent of the Antarctic Division of the DJS.I.R., Mr R. B. Thompson. He said last evening that the New Zealand exercise had started more than a month earlier this year because the drilling programme required thick ice. “It must be finished by Christmas,” Mr Thompson said. The project is sponsored

jointly by the Antarctic Division of the D.5.1.R., Victoria University, and the Ministry of Works and Development. The aim is to drill through two metres of sea ice and 120 metres of water to the seabed. Special equipment will allow 'drilling to continue 24 hours a day regardless of tidal fluctuations. Core samples will be taken from down to 400 metres. Fresh fruit, vegetables, newspapers, mail, and a box of spring flowers will be handed to the 11 men and one woman who have wintered at Scott Base.