polar exploration
-
Can a New Type of Glacier on Mars Aid Future Astronauts?
A recent publication identifies evidence of glacial activity and underground ice on Mars in an unusually flat and temperate area, which could serve as a future human landing site.
-
The Melting of the Greenland Ice, Seen Up Very Close
A small team of scientists ventures out onto the Greenland ice sheet to study the forces large and small that are accelerating the melting of the world’s second-largest ice mass.
-
Photo Essay: Melting Greenland, Up Close
As climate warms, the Greenland ice sheet is melting, helping to fuel global sea-level rise. Follow a small team of scientists as they hike onto the sheet to investigate the forces large and small that are demolishing the ice.
-
U.S., UK Scientists Join to Study Possible Collapse of Massive Antarctic Glacier
An international collaboration will study the wasting of the Thwaites glacier, which already accounts for around 4 percent of current global sea-level rise, and could collapse within decades or centuries.
-
Over Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica
PUNTA ARENAS, Chile–After flying for several hours over a windswept Southern Ocean, the mission director announces that we will be slowly descending towards Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier. Just below are the Hudson Mountains, a small group of extinct volcanoes poking through the ice. As we approach our survey area, John Sonntag from NASA’s flight facility…