ADVENTURE: Kite-skiing Antarctica with Explorer Justin Packshaw

About this episode

Justin Packshaw discusses his expedition across Antarctica to gather data on climate change and human endurance for future space missions.

"Humans are meant to excel. And when you start pushing that and seeing how capable we are, it's phenomenal what you can actually go and do." -Justin Packshaw When Justin Packshaw was trekking in Antarctica several years ago, he noticed something disturbing: The ice shelf had visibly melted since his previous visit, just a few decades prior. "In the grand scheme of how old our world is, and its present state, that's a really quite frightening thing," he said. And with that, he had an idea. Not all scientists have the time, resources, or, frankly, the stamina to conduct invaluable in-person research in the heart of Antarctica, which holds the record as the world's coldest, windiest, and driest continent. But Justin did. He and his adventure partner, Jamie Facer-Childs, proposed a data-gathering mission to several universities: They would cross Antarctica's heart and gather critical scientific data about climate change. But other agencies were interested in the trip as well. As it turns out, pushing the human body to its limits - physically, psychologically, mentally - is one of the key areas of research for space agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency. Justin and Jamie's…

People in this episode

Guest: Justin Packshaw

Topics covered

• adventure
• climate change
• scientific research
• human endurance
• space exploration

Keywords

• Kite-skiing
• Antarctica
• climate change
• human endurance
• space missions
• scientific data
• adventure

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NASA, European Space Agency

Places: Antarctica

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