Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
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Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) of 1955–1958 was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. It was the first expedition to reach the South Pole overland for 46 years, preceded only by Amundsen's expedition and Scott's expedition in 1911 and 1912. In keeping with the tradition of polar expeditions of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, the CTAE was a private venture, though it was supported by the governments of the United Kingdom, New Zealand, United States, Australia and South Africa, as well as many corporate and individual donations, under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth II. It was headed by British explorer Vivian Fuchs, with New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary leading the New Zealand Ross Sea Support team. The New Zealand party included scientists participating in International Geophysical Year research while the British team were separately based at Halley Ba ...
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Tractors In Antarctica (1957)
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commonly, the term is used to describe a farm vehicle that provides the power and traction to mechanization, mechanize agricultural tasks, especially (and originally) tillage, and now many more. List of agricultural machinery, Agricultural implements may be towed behind or mounted on the tractor, and the tractor may also provide a source of power if the implement is mechanised. Etymology The word ''tractor'' was taken from Latin, being the Agent (grammar), agent noun of ''trahere'' "to pull". The first recorded use of the word meaning "an engine or vehicle for pulling wagons or plows" occurred in 1896, from the earlier term "traction engine, traction motor" (1859). National variations In the United Kingdom, UK, Republic of ...
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Vahsel Bay
Vahsel Bay (german: Vahselbucht) is a bay about 7 miles wide in the western part of the Luitpold Coast, Antarctica. This bay receives the flow of the Schweitzer Glacier and Lerchenfeld Glacier. It was discovered by the German Antarctic Expedition of 1911–1912, led by Wilhelm Filchner. Upon discovery Filchner named the bay for Captain Richard Vahsel of the expedition ship ''Deutschland'', who died during the course of the expedition, reputedly of Syphilis. Filchner later renamed the bay ''Herzog Ernst Bucht'' after large portions of the surrounding ice broke away forming a much larger bay, but later explorers have retained the name Vahsel Bay. Vahsel Bay was the intended destination of Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. They made it all the way through the Weddell Sea The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the An ...
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Peter Mulgrew
Peter David Mulgrew (21 November 1927 – 28 November 1979) was a New Zealand mountaineer, yachtsman and businessman. Life and career Mulgrew was born in Lower Hutt to boilermaker William John Mulgrew and woollen industry worker Edith Mulgrew (née Matthews). He attended the Hutt Valley Memorial Technical College. He served in the Royal New Zealand Navy for eleven years, including service on a frigate in the Korean War. On 20 September 1952, in Wellington, he married June Martha Anderson. They had two daughters, Robyn and Susan. He embarked on several expeditions with Edmund Hillary: the 1956–1958 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition to the South Pole on which he served as radio operator; the 1960–61 Silver Hut expedition, a scientific and mountaineering expedition (plus Yeti hunt) to the Himalayas, on which he suffered pulmonary edema at on Makalu. Mulgrew had to be carried part-way by a Sherpa (Urkien). He was an "appalling sight" and "it was a miracle he was still ...
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Ferguson TE20
The Ferguson TE20 is an agricultural tractor designed by Harry Ferguson. By far his most successful design, it was manufactured from 1946 until 1956, and was commonly known as the ''Little Grey Fergie''. It marked a major advance in tractor design, distinguished by lightweight, small size, manoeuvrability and versatility. The TE20 popularised Harry Ferguson's invention of the hydraulic three-point hitch system around the world, and the system quickly became an international standard for tractors of all makes and sizes that has remained to this day. The tractor played a large part in introducing widespread mechanised agriculture. In many parts of the world the TE20 was the first tractor to be affordable to the average farmer and was small and light enough to replace the draft horse and manual labour. Many TE20s remain in regular use in farming and other work and the model is also a popular collector's item for enthusiasts today. History The model name came from ''Tractor, Eng ...
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McMurdo Sound
McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole. Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo of HMS ''Terror''. The sound today serves as a resupply route for cargo ships and for airplanes that land on the floating ice airstrips near McMurdo Station. Physical characteristics Wildlife in the sound include killer whales, seals, Adélie penguins, and emperor penguins. Boundary and Extents The sound extends approximately 55 kilometers (34 mi) in length and width, and opens into the larger Ross Sea to the north. To the south, the sound is bounded by the Ross Ice Shelf cavity, to the west lies the Royal Society Range, and to the east is Ross Island. McMurdo Sound is separated from the McMurdo Ice Shelf (itself part of the Ross Ice Shelf) by the Haskell Strait. Winter Quarters Bay lies at the south end of the Sound, and is the s ...
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Scott Base
Scott Base is a New Zealand Antarctica, Antarctic research station at Pram Point on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in New Zealand's Ross Dependency territorial claim. It was named in honour of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Royal Navy, RN, leader of two United Kingdom, British expeditions to the Ross Sea area of Antarctica. The base was set up as support to field research and the centre for research into earth sciences, and now conducts research in many fields, operated by Antarctica New Zealand. The base is from the larger U.S. McMurdo Station via Pegasus Road. History Scott Base was originally constructed in support of the UK inspired and privately managed Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE). The New Zealand government provided support for the TAE and also for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) project of 1957, five of whose members were attached to the Expedition. In February 1956, 10 months before the TAE and IGY parties were due to head to the Antarctic, ...
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Bombardier Recreational Products
BRP Inc. is the holding company for Bombardier Recreational Products Inc., operating as BRP, a Canadian manufacturer of snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, side by sides, motorcycles, and personal watercraft. It was founded in 2003, when the Recreational Products Division of Bombardier Inc. was spun-off and sold to a group of investors consisting of Bain Capital, the Bombardier-Beaudoin family and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Bombardier Inc., was founded in 1942 as ''L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée'' (Bombardier Snowmobile Limited) by Joseph-Armand Bombardier at Valcourt in the Eastern Townships, Quebec. , BRP had about 5,500 employees; its revenues in 2007 were above US$2.5 billion. BRP has manufacturing facilities in five countries: Canada, the United States (Wisconsin, Illinois, North Carolina, Arkansas, Michigan and Minnesota), Mexico, Finland, and Austria. The company's products are sold in more than 100 countries, some of which have their own direct-sa ...
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South Ice
South Ice was a British support base from the South Pole at 81°57'S, 29°00'W in Edith Ronne Land, Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year, established by Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, where three men overwintered during the Antarctic winter of 1957. In the same winter, men overwintered for the first time at the South Pole. The name of the station contrasts to North Ice which was a British research station in Greenland. See also * List of Antarctic research stations * List of Antarctic field camps Many Antarctic research stations support satellite field camps which are, in general, seasonal camps. The type of field camp can vary – some are permanent structures used during the annual Antarctic summer, whereas others are little more than te ... * Crime in Antarctica References * tp://sidads.colorado.edu/pub/DATASETS/AGDC/antarctic_10m_temps/trans-ant_55.txt Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1957-1958 External links Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1955-1958 ...
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Sir Edmund Hillary With Rear-Admiral George Dufek At Scott Base During The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1957
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part of "Monsieur", with the equivalent "My Lord" in English. Traditionally, as governed by law and custom, Sir is used for men titled as knights, often as members of orders of chivalry, as well as later applied to baronets and other offices. As the female equivalent for knighthood is damehood, the female equivalent term is typically Dame. The wife of a knight or baronet tends to be addressed as Lady, although a few exceptions and interchanges of these uses exist. Additionally, since the late modern period, Sir has been used as a respectful way to address a man of superior social status or military rank. Equivalent terms of address for women are Madam (shortened to Ma'am), in addition to social honorifics such as Mrs, Ms or Miss. Etymolo ...
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Sno-Cat
The Tucker Sno-Cat is a family of tracked vehicles for snow conditions, manufactured in Medford, Oregon by the company of the same name. Different models have been used for expeditions in the Arctic and the Antarctic during the second half of the 20th century. It differs from other truck-sized snow vehicles, commonly known as snowcats, by its use of four independently mounted sets of tracks. Early models While the majority of Tucker Sno-Cats utilized four sets of tracks, a few experimental models and early production models used two sets of tracks. Initially Tucker Sno-Cats employed two front-mounted steering skis and two sets of tracks mounted to the rear. However, there are at least three production models that only employed dual tracks—the small 222 Tucker Kitten, the 322, and the 323 models were all two-track Tucker Sno-Cats with a conventional front engine design. There are at least two variants of the Tucker Kitten, some have square corner doors while others have ro ...
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M29 Weasel
The M29 Weasel is a World War II tracked vehicle designed for operation in snow. Built by Studebaker, Weasels were also used in sandy, muddy, and desert terrains, including towing loads over terrain wheeled vehicles could not negotiate as in the US Marine invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Standard M29s were semi-amphibious, but with a very low freeboard. A M29C Water Weasel version was produced with fore and aft buoyancy cells and twin rudders. Capable of operating in inland waterways, it however also saw limited action in surf conditions in the Pacific Theatre and during the landings on Walcheren in Europe. Design and development The idea for the Weasel came from the work of British inventor Geoffrey Pyke in support of his proposals to attack Axis forces and industrial installations in Norway. Pyke's plan to hamper the German nuclear weapons program became Project Plough for which he proposed a fast light mechanised device that would transport small groups of commando tro ...
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Kerosene
Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was registered as a trademark by Canadian geologist and inventor Abraham Gesner in 1854 before evolving into a generic trademark. It is sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage. The term kerosene is common in much of Argentina, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, and the United States, while the term paraffin (or a closely related variant) is used in Chile, eastern Africa, South Africa, Norway, and in the United Kingdom. The term lamp oil, or the equivalent in the local languages, is common in the majority of Asia and the Southeastern United States. Liquid paraffin (called mineral oil in the US) is a more viscous and highly refined product which is used as a laxative. Paraffin wax is a waxy solid extracted from pet ...
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