Explorers hail historic Antarctic plane find

Australian explorers on Sunday credited record low tides and a blue moon for the "one-in-a-million" discovery of one of the world's first aeroplanes buried in Antarctic ice.The monoplane, which was the first aircraft off the Vickers factory production line in Britain just eight years after the Wright brothers' first flight, was taken to Antarctica by Australian explorer Douglas Mawson in 1911.

An exhausted British-Australian expedition recreating Ernest Shackleton's 1916 crossing of the Southern Ocean in a small boat made landfall after a perilous 12-day journey. Led by renowned adventurer Tim Jarvis, the team of six reached Peggotty Bluff on rugged South Georgia, where they landed their vessel in the same place Shackleton and his men beached the James Caird nearly 100 years ago.

British explorer Ranulph Fiennes and his five-man crew left Cape Town today aboard a polar vessel bound for Antarctica. When Fiennes and his team arrive on the icy continent in mid-March they will set out on a record-breaking mission: To be the first to cross the Antartic in winter.

Last month, a group of explorers set off on an expedition to be the first to cross the Antarctic during winter. 

Famed British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and five other team members set sail from Cape Town yesterday aboard the SA Agulhas, a 367-foot polar ship that will take the crew to the coldest place on Earth during the coldest season. Their goal is to be the first to cross the Antarctic during the winter.  

Climate change may be melting the Arctic, but the sea ice coverage in the Antarctic is looking better than ever. However, new research suggests the reason behind the phenomenon is the melting of Antarctica’s ice shelves — so basically, the climate is robbing the land-based Peter to pay the ocean-based Paul.

Cold is the single biggest enemy for the six-man ice team attempting to be the first to cross Antarctica during the winter.  

Once Sir Ranulph Fiennes and his five-man team set off to cross the Antarctic continent during the winter months, the only thing standing between them and the finish line will be 2,400 miles of ice. The trek has never been attempted before. And for good reasons.