22 { Raquel Miguel / Punta Arenas, Chile / DPA}
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he dawn sky is tinged with orange and violet, as the expedition team checks out sea conditions, the tide and the currents – to make sure it is safe to land. Everything seems calm, but the captain of the “Stella Australis”, Chilean Oscar Sheward, knows that Cape Horn—the mythical crossing point between two oceans, and the southernmost tip of the world, (excluding Antarctica) can very quickly show its dark side. “Sailing conditions can be perilous with storms winds of more than 200 kilometres per hour, alongside a permanent west-east current with waves of up to 15 metres,” he says. At the meeting point of the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, a sensation of vulnerability prevails. History and legend have also forged an “end of the world” myth about these waters, located at latitude 55º56’ S, and longitude 67º19’ W. They mark where the Darwin mountain range folds into the water, and the Pacific goes from 3,000 metres to 4,000 metres deep – over a very short distance. Historians estimate that more than 800 ships have floundered in these stormy waters since the 16th century, with the loss of more than 10,000 men from different countries. But very few people disembark on the tiny island, on which a Chilean Navy keeper controls navigation, and from which tribute is paid to all
To The End Of The Earth
SPECTACULAR SIGHT: Passengers from the Stella Australis cruise ship were able to land on the Pia glacier.
the sailors who died in these waters. Miguel Cadiz is the name of the current Navy keeper on the rocky mass. He has been there for several months with his wife, and two children. In addition to his home, and a small chapel next to the lighthouse, Cadiz and his family are limited to the 500 metres separating their part of the island from the other end –where the Cape Horn Monument stands. Fashioned by Chilean sculptor Jose Balcells Eyquem, the monument is a seven-metre-tall steel plate rendition of two albatrosses. Legend has it that the souls of drowned sailors become albatrosses and fly away. Cape Horn is the Australis Cruises Company’s main attraction on its tour of a large part of the area covered by pioneer naturist and explorer Charles Darwin, in the waters of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. It is the only
company that carries out this tour of the Straits of Magellan and the Beagle Channel – crossing through natural parks and protected areas, on a route from Punta Arenas, in Chilean Patagonia, to Ushuaia, in Argentina – and the return. “The route we take is the most remote and isolated, the least-known and used, primitive and untouchable,” says Mauricio Alvarez, Chief of Expeditions. While on the tour, the passengers are not likely to see other human beings, other than the Cape Horn lighthouse keeper and his family. “Time has turned this place into an area so untamed, that it has not been conquered,” he says. Alvarez explains that only smaller ships, that can navigate through narrow channels and have a low impact, are allowed to travel through the Alberto d’Agostini and Cape Horn parks.
New Era In Spaceflight { Anne K Walters / Washington / DPA }
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18–24 May 2012
ASA’s space shuttle fleet may be landing in museums, but the next step in space exploration is already underway. Private concerns are working to get into the ground floor of the commercial flight to near-Earth orbit – and possibly beyond. On Saturday, the company Space X plans to reach a major milestone by launching the first commercial craft bound for the International Space Station (ISS). NASA’s ISS programme manager Mike Suffredini has dubbed it “one of those historic launches.” But there is much that could go wrong in what amounts to be a test flight. The launch has already been delayed repeatedly, to make sure everything comes together correctly. “Space takes longer, and is more expensive, than what people expect,” notes Scott Pace, director of the Space Policy Institute at the George Washington University in Washington. Space X’s Dragon spacecraft is to embark upon a three-day flight to the ISS, and undertake a series of complicated docking manoeuvres – in order to establish that it can safely attach to the orbiting station. This will be only the third flight for Dragon. The unmanned Dragon capsule will blast off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, and carry 521 kilograms of cargo— mainly food—for astronauts living on the station. If all goes as planned, it will return to Earth with 660 kilograms of discarded cargo. The shift toward commercial space-
flight comes as part of an Obama administration review of space policy, amid the retirement of the space shuttle fleet. NASA will shift its focus to longer distance goals, with the aim of eventually reaching an asteroid, and later Mars – while handing over routine space station flights to commercial providers. “The US doesn’t have its own government access to the space station, so it is reliant on private providers; and for cargo, that is a reasonable bet,” says Pace. But he expresses worries that the next step— commercial crew access —will be considerably more difficult. With the retirement of the shuttle, US astronauts can only reach the station via Russian Soyuz spacecraft, while cargo can be delivered on Russian, European and Japanese craft. The Space X advance would be good news not only for NASA, but also for international partners. Space X was awarded a possible 396-million-dollar contract, of which it has so-far received 381 million dollars, to develop its capsule. It is under contract for 12 supply flights to the Station. In 2010, Space X was the first private company to send a commercial craft into orbit. If all goes well, the company eventually plans to convert the Dragon capsule, to allow it to also bring astronauts aloft - but it will likely be years before the first astronaut blasts off in a private rocket. The Dragon is to remain at the station for two weeks, for the ISS crew to unload cargo, before the capsule re-enters the atmosphere and splashes down off the California coast. “I think we’ve got a pretty good shot, but it is worth emphasizing that there is a lot that can go wrong in a mission like this,” Space X chief Elon
Vessels must also have a Chilean captain or pilot on board. In most spots, getting off the ship is prohibited. Since the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared Cape Horn a world biosphere reserve in 2005, limits have been set to commercial development. Australis Cruises received a 25-year concession, but must work to preserve the area. “We do this by taking good care in landings, limiting walking, cordoning off pathways,
Cape Horn Monument
and most of all, through education—with the talks we offer on board—we make sure that the 10,000 to 12,000 passengers, who travel with us each season, are very aware of the issues,” says Alvarez. The talks focus on navigation, native flora and fauna, history, indigenous routes and expeditions – from Tierra del Fuego to the Antarctic. And then there are the glaciers, another highlight. The
Musk said last month. The most complex part of the mission will be the docking to the station; NASA and Space X will take a series of steps to ensure the station and its resident astronauts are safe, as the craft approaches. If any aspect of the approach looks to be compromised, the docking could be called off at the last minute. Finally, two astronauts aboard the ISS will use the station’s robotic arm, to grab the Dragon capsule and attach it to a port on the station. NASA notes that the cargo aboard the
cruise owes its very existence to the ice formations that created the fjords and channels, through which the ship navigates. A landing at Ainsworth Bay allows visitors to tour the glacier moraine, and observe birds and elephant seals – that live on the lake next to it. The Pia glacier—in the peaceful bay of a fjord—can be observed from a vantage point on high. But most of the glaciers are found in Glacier Alley. They have been given European country names – Germany, Spain, Italy and Holland are some seen from the ship. And of course, you cannot but have animal life – penguins sea lions and elephant seals; on Tuckers Isles and Magdalena Island. With luck, visitors get to see dolphins and even whales. Visitors have seen beavers as well. These animals were artificially introduced into the area in the 1960s, for their fur. Today, beavers constitute a serious threat to the ecosystem balance. The Wulaia (“Pretty Bay”) landing offers a unique view of the Tierra del Fuego landscape. Security is tight on the Stella Australis cruise. A person who falls into the cold, dangerous waters of Tierra del Fuego can survive just 6 to 10 minutes, says Paula Galindo, the only female guide on the ship. Passengers are constantly being told about the dangers. Alvarez is emphatic about security, “An accident such as that which occurred on the ‘Costa Concordia’ (last year in the Mediterranean) would be, here, simply catastrophic,” he says.u
craft is expendable, in case the Dragon fails to make it to the ISS, or back home. Musk warns against placing too much value on the flight, saying that a failure should not be used as an argument to discredit commercial space flight. “There should be doubt about our resolve,” he says. “We will get to the space station, whether on this mission or a future one.” Another company, Orbital Sciences Corporation, is set for its first flight to the ISS later this year. u
Dalai Lama Donates Templeton Prize { Anna Tomforde / London / DPA }
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he Dalai Lama was awarded the 2012 Templeton Prize in London. He said that the bulk of the 1.1-million-pound (1.7-million-dollar) prize would go towards the health and education of children in India. “Our real hope are the younger generations. If they are properly educated, they will change our world,” the 76-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader said, at the award ceremony in St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Templeton prize—named after late US financier and philanthropist John Templeton, who died in 2008—is awarded annually to people who “affirm life’s spiritual dimension.” It is the largest annual monetary award given to an individual. Previous recipients include fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mother Teresa, who received the prize in 1973, a year after it was founded.
“With an increasing reliance on technological advances to solve the world’s problems, humanity also seeks the reassurance that only a spiritual quest can answer,” Templeton’s son, also named John, said. “The Dalai Lama offers a universal voice of compassion, underpinned by a love and respect for spiritually relevant scientific research that centres on every single human being,” he added. About 900,000 pounds of the prize money will go to the Save the Children charity in India, while 125,000 will be set aside for the Minds and Life Institute, a US-based non-profit organization. The remainder, around 35,000 pounds, is to be used to teach modern science to monks in the Tibetan community in India, said the Dalai Lama. “I’m a monk - no family,” he said in a light-hearted acceptance speech. “My own pockets still empty. That’s okay, no problem.” u