Old News

• November, 2005 IPY endorses the ICECAP programme.
• December, 2005 The UK Natural Environment Research Council funds ICECAP.
• August, 2008 The US National Science Foundation agrees funding and logistics support for the modified ICECAP proposal.
• 24th-27th October, 2008 The project aircraft is fitted out, tested and certified by Air Transport Canada at the TxDOT airfield, Austin
• 29th October, 2008 ICECAP hits the news, check it out at: CNN BBC

Season One in Pictures

9th December, 2008 We're off, ICECAP is go as the first members of the team arrive at McMurdo. 10th December, 2008 Most of our cargo has gone ahead of us and we can start putting the equipment together straight away, if only we could find some workspace?!. 11th December, 2008 With office and workspace arranged we can start work in earnest, first jobs are top build the racking for the aircraft wire-up and start testing the electronics. 12th December, 2008 The cavalry arrive, pod 1.5 boosts the ICECAP presence on the ice. 15th December, 2008 The PI-pod arrive to sort things out! photo: G.Echeverry 21st December, 2008 With ground testing completed successfully its time to start loading the survey equipment onto the aircraft. 23rd December, 2008 First test flight of the radar systems over the open water, sea ice and ice shelf of McMurdo Sound. 27th December, 2008 Radar systems test (no. 2) over Wilkes Land, East Antarctica. photo: J.Holt 2nd January, 2009 First flight with all systems go, and real science targets! A survey of Darwin, Hatherton and Byrd Glaciers in the Transantarctic Mountains south of McMurdo. 5th January, 2009 The ICECAP aircraft leaves McMurdo for its trip across the continent, via Dome C and Dumont d'Urville, to Casey. photo: G.Echeverry 21st January, 2009 A few technical problems meant a couple of flight days lost but we are off again now and have completed another two radial flight over the central area of the Aurora Basin, our main target and some of the thickest ice in Antarctica. 24th January, 2009 Things are going well and more progress has been made, another couple of flights and its starting to look like we're filling in the fan of radial lines which are our objectives for this year. 27th January, 2009 Flying has been on hold for a couple of days while the aircraft gets a new fuel pump fitted. Only a week to go at Casey but the weather forecast looks promising for the next few days. 1st February, 2009 A busy last week has seen five flights in five days and a successful end to the first years survey. We achieved our goal of flying all the planned radial lines over the Aurora Basin along with a few exploratory lines into the unknown (see 'Season One Outcomes') 2nd February, 2009 JKB leaves Casey headed back to McMurdo to deconfigure the survey equipment.

17th December, 2008 Ground testing of the radar equipment begins. 19th December, 2008 The ICECAP project aircraft, a turbo-prop powered Douglas DC-3 'Dakota' (callsign JKB), arrives safely at the McMurdo skiway from Mario Zucchelli in Terra Nova Bay,where it had been working for the Italian Antarctic Program photo: J.Holt 28th December, 2008 Flight no. 3 over Black/White Islands local to McMurdo to test airborne laser, magnetometer, GPS and data recording systems. 30th December, 2008 Test of the Gravity meter, Magnetometer and data recording equipment over the same track as Flight 3. photo: J.Holt 8th January, 2009 ICECAP arrives at Casey in the Australian Antarctic Territory. 10th January, 2009 First survey flight completed out of Casey covering 2000km of the ice sheet to the west of the station. 11th January, 2009 A second successful flight out of Casey, this time heading inland back towards Concordia. 14th January, 2009 After a couple of days of bad weather at Casey we're flying again, this time testing the maximum range of the aircraft with a flight to intersect our own traverse between Dome C and Dumont d'Urville. 4th February, 2009 Aircraft deconfiguration is completed and the first members of the field team, along with the seasons data are on their way home. 5th February, 2009 Those members of ICECAP still at Casey take a trip to the abandoned Wilkes Station in order to find a gravity reference site dating from the 1956/57 International Geophysical Year. 10th February, 2009 The final members of the ICECAP team to leave the continent depart from Casey bound for Hobart.