|
TWO UNSW GRADUATE students became the first Australian
female reseach scientists to work at the South Pole in a UNSW-led expedition early
in 2000.
JILL RATHBORNE, 22, a PhD student and Jessica Dempsey, 21 an
honours student, were part of an expedition led by Professor John Storey, Head of the School of Physics at
UNSW,
to commission a suite of instruments for the Automated Astrophysical
Site Testing Laboratory (AASTO) observatory at the South Pole.
The AASTO is a mobile laboratory, capable of being deployed anywhere
on
the Antarctic plateau by a ski-equipped Hercules aircraft. It is being used
to assess the potential of Antarctica for a future international
astronomical observatory.
|
UNSW, the Australian National University and the
Australian Research Council support the AASTO project with seed money having
been provided by Australian Antarctic Foundation.
For the two graduate students it was the most exciting experience of
their scientific careers so far. "Being part
of research that helps answer the big questions of science is a once in a
life time experience," said Jessica. Antarctica is the highest, driest
and coldest of the continents but on the Antarctic plateau it is also the
calmest places on earth, making it ideal for astronomical observation.
The UNSW team spent most of January and early February at the South Pole.
Read Jessica and Jill's daily diaries
Michael Burton
|
