On June 12th the symposium was held in Madrid, at the National Museum of Natural Sciences, bringing together more than twenty national and international polar scientists with 14 different projects. All of them having participated in expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic with the emission free WindSled eco-vehicle. During the event, organized by the Inuit WindSled Project, the preliminary conclusions of the work carried out were recapitulated, mainly from the last 2018-2019 Antarctic crossing, but also from previous ones. The objective was to share experiences and analyze in common the perspectives for the future demand of this platform.
Each of the teams presented their findings in turns of 15 to 20 minutes in which they highlighted the achievements and difficulties encountered with the polar mobile platform. Some researchers interventions, such as Dr. Jason Box, Dr. Ross Edwards and Dr. Paul Travis Vallelonga, were made through videos in which they explained in detail their participation. With the information provided a publication is being prepared.
If something became evident that day was the great diversity of scientific and technological projects that WindSled can carry on board through the Antarctic and Arctic ice sheets: including Biology, Glaciology, Space, Geology, Meteorology… In fact, some of the devices designed for the vehicle could be patented given their performance and successful testing trials under extreme conditions.
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When the turn for conclusions arrived, the main challenges the Inuit WindSled Project faces were brought up. Also the opportunity for polar science to be able to position itself with something so innovative in the international scene. In fact, as recalled by its designer, Ramón Larramendi, there have already been some scientific publications concerning the data acquired in the past and a mention in Nature Journal, for example, within an article that evaluates different alternatives for science development free of polluting emissions: “Sustainability a greener culture” by Julia Rosen, June 2017.
https://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038/nj7659-565a
And also by the same author:
Among the main conclusions of the symposium (in the absence of additional scientific results that will take some time to be published), the following is highlighted:
THE CHALLENGES
-Regarding the timing, the scientific community may or may not raise the need to work in certain polar areas considering the mobile WindSled platform. There are scientists who argue that if it is readily available it would be utilized, especially being an important innovation and versatile tool for science, whilst opening new territories of exploration.
-Some scientists defend that it is not necessary to be everywhere and that in some countries in particular, the scientific budget per say does not have enough capacity to cover all areas. In Spain’s case, the polar science estimation is already quite tight to try to incorporate a new scientific platform such as the WindSled. Since there is no increment in funds to start a minimum structure of operation it would have to subtract from another budget item.
-There are still many improvements to be made on the WindSled in terms of compliance and monitoring of scientific protocols so that the field data collected allow for quality scientific results. The problems mentioned by those present in the last expedition are related to the fact that at the moment there is not a single trained person dedicated 100% to work on the WindSled, since this requires a budget. The need to standardize protocols and professionalize the crew in scientific tasks is detected.
-Another issue noted referred to the energy supply of the scientific projects on board that would have to be solved for the definitive bet on the eco-vehicle, in order to obtain the maximum possible scientific yield. With more investment and planning, these problems could be solved.
-The WindSled faces the challenge of overcoming the administrative obstacles imposed by the current bureaucracy of the scientific system, which is very complex and which although the highest levels of the national Ministry are trying to solve, it is not easy because it depends on other public bodies also. We are, thus, looking for formulas to fit the project in the national public system.
FUTURE OPTIONS:
-From official instances it is considered fundamental to evaluate the degree of demand that exists in the scientific community of this platform to determine the number of teams involved, the number of projects, their continuity over time, and so on. Based on this demand, the decision will be taken to incorporate it as a Spanish national mobile polar structure without affecting others already underway. At the moment, the demand has been excellent, since 11 projects have participated in the last expedition.
-For many of those present, the WindSled has great value for national and international science. The international prestige is highly valued offering the world wide scientific community a zero environmental impact mobile polar platform.
-In relation to the data obtained in the Antarctica Unexplored Dome Fuji campaign, some of the researchers present conclude that the quality / price ratio of the work performed is excellent, given the high cost of accessing 80º South to acquire useful scientific data by other means.
-Concerning the aforementioned international collaboration, the future possibility of WindSled functioning as a “spaceship” or, better yet, “polar ship”, in which different the projects pay an established fee for carrying a scientific payload on board, was mentioned.
-There is the possibility of having official national and international calls to which different projects can register and sign up while each project contributes funds for the expedition campaigns and a basic operational structure for the Inuit WindSled Project.
-A proposed management model could be having an expedition campaign every three or four years (annually too, according to the demand), well planned in advance so as not to risk all the funds of a project to an expedition.
-It is confirmed that the national Science Minister in acting, Mr. Pedro Duque, is very interested in the WindSled coming forward.
-A private initiative is discussed: Ramón Larramendi would create a company that offers the WindSled as a private service that the institutions or projects may contract as a means of transport through the Antarctic and Arctic ice sheets.
-It is proposed to seek formal ongoing collaborations with institutions such as with the European Space Agency (ESA).
-It is finally concluded that the expedition campaigns carried out, and especially the last one, have demonstrated that WindSled is a viable scientific platform.
