Indholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2019 i The Explorers Journal

The power to inspire people—that’s what we’re made of. We are all aware that members of The Explorers Club wrote the pages of history—from Admiral Robert E. Peary and Theodore Roosevelt to the astronauts who first stepped foot on the Moon to pioneering primatologist Jane Goodall. Their individual accomplishments are nothing short of awe-inspiring, but if you think of the collective star power found within our ranks, it’s all the more impressive. Today, our members are equally engaged in issues of global concern that threaten our planet, from plastics, palm oil use, and climate change, to water and land degradation. We explorers stand as an elite force at the forefront of understanding these threats to the long-term survival of our planet. By knowing the backstories and understanding the research, we…

A FELLOW OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 2005, LEROY CHIAO IS THE CEO AND COFOUNDER OF ONEORBIT, LLC, A MOTIVATIONAL, TRAINING, AND EDUCATION COMPANY. HE SERVED AS A NASA ASTRONAUT FROM 1990 TO 2005 AND FLEW FOUR MISSIONS INTO SPACE: THREE ABOARD NASA SPACE SHUTTLES AND ONE AS COPILOT OF A RUSSIAN SOYUZ SPACECRAFT TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. ON THE RUSSIAN FLIGHT HE SERVED AS THE COMMANDER OF EXPEDITION 10, A SIX-AND-A-HALF-MONTH MISSION. CHIAO HAS PERFORMED SIX SPACE WALKS, IN BOTH AMERICAN AND RUSSIAN SPACESUITS, AND HAS LOGGED 229 DAYS IN SPACE. IN 2006, HE WAS THE FIRST AMERICAN INVITED TO VISIT THE ASTRONAUT CENTER OF CHINA IN BEIJING, WHERE HE FIRST MET YANG LIWEI AND FEI JUNLONG, THE FIRST TWO CHINESE NATIONAL ASTRONAUTS. The Moon holds a special…

A FELLOW OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 2003, PALEONTOLOGIST KENNETH LACOVARA, PHD, HAS EXCAVATED SOME OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST DINOSAURS, INCLUDING THE BEHEMOTH DREADNOUGHTUS, WHICH AT 65 TONS, OUTWEIGHED NINE T. REX. LACOVARA IS THE FOUNDING DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF EARTH & ENVIRONMENT AT ROWAN UNIVERSITY, AND IS FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF THE JEAN AND RIC EDELMAN FOSSIL PARK, WHERE HE AND HIS TEAM ARE UNRAVELING THE MYSTERIES OF THE EXTINCTION OF THE DINOSAURS. HIS BOOK, WHY DINOSAURS MATTER (SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2017), IS WINNER OF A NAUTILUS BOOK AWARD, AND HIS 2016 TED TALK WAS RATED ONE OF THE YEAR’S TOP THREE. LACOVARA IS THE RECIPIENT OF THIS YEAR’S 2019 EXPLORERS CLUB MEDAL, THE EXPLORERS CLUB’S HIGHEST HONOR. You got lucky. And so did I. That’s the resounding, persistent…

A FELLOW OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 1982, AS WELL AS THE RECIPIENT OF BOTH GUGGENHEIM AND NEA FELLOWSHIPS, KEVIN BUBRISKI IS A PHOTOGRAPHER WHOSE WORK IS IN THE PERMANENT COLLECTIONS OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, THE SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, AND THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE IN PARIS. DURING THE 2016–17 ACADEMIC YEAR, BUBRISKI JOURNEYED TO NEPAL ON A SENIOR SCHOLAR FULBRIGHT FELLOWSHIP. HIS BOOKS INCLUDE PORTRAIT OF NEPAL (CHRONICLE BOOKS, 1993) AND THE RECENTLY RELEASED LEGACY IN STONE: SYRIA BEFORE WAR (POWERHOUSE BOOKS, 2019) FROM WHICH THE MATERIAL IN THIS PHOTO ESSAY HAS BEEN DRAWN. It was November 2003, the rainy season and Ramadan. The US war in Iraq was six months old. I was on assignment in Syria to photograph the…

SOUTH POLAR TIMES BY CAPTAIN ROBERT FALCON SCOTT & HIS EXPEDITION MEMBERS 659 PP • LONDON: THE FOLIO SOCIETY (IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, THE BRITISH LIBRARY, AND THE SCOTT POLAR RESEARCH INSTITUTE), 2018 • $155 The Folio Society has published a stellar reproduction of the full 12-issue run of The South Polar Times in cooperation with the Royal Geographical Society, the British Library, and the Scott Polar Research Institute. The newpapers were printed during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s two Antarctic Expeditions—the Discovery Expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova Expedition of 1910–13, both named in honor of their ships. For this reissue, noted polar historian Ann Savours provides a fulsome introduction in which she discusses the members of the expedition and how each member contributed to the…

“MEMBERS OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB ARE A SOURCE OF GREAT INSPIRATION AS I CONTINUE TO EXPLORE THE WORLD. TO ENSURE THAT THE MISSION OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB CONTINUES, I HAVE INCLUDED A GIFT TO THE CLUB IN MY ESTATE PLANNING. I ENCOURAGE MY FELLOW MEMBERS TO DO LIKEWISE.”—DAVID S. PRESS, LM’18 John G. Alexander • Alan B. Albright • Robert J. Atwater • Capt. Norman L. Baker* • Barbara Ballard • Robert D. Ballard, PhD • Samuel B. Ballen* • Mark Gregory Bayuk • Daniel A. Bennett • Josh Bernstein • Bruce Blanchard • John R. Bockstoce, DPhil • Jack Aaron Boggs • Bjorn G. Bolstad* • Capt. Bruce M. Bongar, PhD • Brian M. Boom, PhD • Jill Botway • Garrett R. Bowden • Capt. Lawson W. Brigham, PhD,…

From vast ocean depths to the frontiers of outer space, THE EXPLORERS JOURNAL offers firsthand reporting from those pushing the limits of knowledge and human endurance. Founded in 1904 to promote exploration “by all means possible,” The Explorers Club is an international organization dedicated to the advancement of field exploration and scientific inquiry. Among our members are leading pioneers in oceanography, mountaineering, archaeology, and the planetary and environmental sciences.…

Stepping onto the Moon on that momentous July day in 1969, astronaut Buzz Aldrin described his first impression there as one of “magnificent desolation”—magnificent in the human accomplishment the journey represented, and the desolation that comes with being alone—the first, along with Neil Armstrong, to venture to such a distant world. This edition of THE EXPLORERS JOURNAL we celebrate that incredible “first” of a half-century ago, when the Eagle touched down at Tranquility Base at 20:17:40 UTC on July 20, 1969, not by looking back but by looking forward to our next “giant leaps” in space exploration. We owe a major shout-out to noted space journalist and former NASA space biologist Keith Cowing, who proved invaluable in helping us pull together our Apollo 11 anniversary coverage. Closer to home, we…

Richard “Harry” Harris was just finishing his schedule, providing anesthesia for the morning’s surgical cases at Flinders Private Hospital in Adelaide, Australia, when he received an emergency call from Thailand. It was 11:00 in the morning on July 3 and much of the world had been anxiously awaiting news on the fate of 12 members of a local soccer team and their 25-year-old coach, Ekkapol “Ake” Chantawong, who had gone missing ten days earlier when a cave they were exploring was suddenly flooded with the early onset of monsoon rains. The good news, Harris was told, was that the boys had been found alive by two experienced British cave divers. The question was how to get them out, as none had any diving experience, much less an ability to swim.…

JOIN THE “EXPLORERS IMMORTALS” AND ENGRAVE YOUR NAME OR DEDICATION IN STONE ON NEW PAVERS FOR THE LEFRAK TERRACE AT EXPLORERS CLUB HEADQUARTERS. ADORN OUR LANDMARK OUTDOOR SPACE AND HELP PAY FOR URGENT WORK FOR PHASE II RENOVATIONS BY MAKING A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION OF $2,500 PER DEDICATED PAVER TO OUR LOWELL THOMAS BUILDING FUND. THE EXPLORERS CLUB WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING WHO HAVE PURCHASED A PAVER: Robert Ashton, James H. Alexander, John G. Alexander, Darlene T. Anderson, Jeanne D. Andlinger, Barbara Annan, Robert J. Aresty, Atlanta Chapter, Robert J. Atwater, Norman L. Baker, Andreas Bender, Josh Bernstein, John Bierley, Bruce Blanchard, John R. Bockstoce, Brian M. Boom, John R. Boreske Jr., Gary W. Bowersox, Lawson W. Brigham, Diane Britz-Lotti, Julianne M. Chase, James M. Clash, Allen S. Counter,…

JAMES F. BRIDENSTINE WAS SWORN IN AS THE THIRTEENTH ADMINISTRATOR OF NASA IN APRIL 2018. BEFORE THAT, HE REPRESENTED OKLAHOMA’S FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WHERE HE SERVED ON THE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE AND THE SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE. HE IS A NAVAL AVIATOR AND FORMER TOPGUN INSTRUCTOR WHO SERVED TOURS OF DUTY IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. I am the first NASA administrator to have never seen humans walk on another world. I intend to be the only administrator with that distinction. Right now there are more people alive than not who share my experience. While most of Earth’s inhabitants were born after the end of the Apollo missions, roughly a quarter of all of the people alive today have always known a world where it…

1922 First Cretaceous strata discovered in Asia north of the Himalaya during the American Museum of Natural History Central Asiatic Expedition to Mongolia. Major discoveries include dinosaur bones and egg shells, along with the skull of Baluchitherium discovered by Walter Granger and James B. Shackelford in Oligocene deposits. 1923 AMNH Central Asiatic Expedition (CAE) to Mongolia during which the fossil-bearing deposits of the Flaming Cliffs were discovered. Major finds include Protoceratops skeletons and dinosaur eggs (thought to be those of Protoceratops) found in association with an oviraptor. 1925 AMNH Central Asiatic Expedition to Mongolia reveals the first Mesozoic mammals found at the Flaming Cliffs. 1946, 1948, 1949 Soviet expeditions discover the fossil-bearing deposits of the Gobi’s Nemegt Basin. 1993 American Museum of Natural History–Mongolian Academy of Sciences Expeditions. Major discoveries…

One of the most riveting stories of the past year involved the rescue of the Thai soccer team from a cave system that had flooded during monsoon season. The physician in the cave was Richard “Harry” Harris, a fellow of The Explorers Club since 2009 and a highly experienced Australian cave diver who has created a cave rescue training program (see page 66). Cave diving is the extreme end of the spectrum of diving in areas with an overhead environment. Open water diving is relatively safe because in an emergency, one can generally surface in a controlled fashion without impediment. While few of us divers may actually desire to dive in a cave, other environments with overhead safety issues, which attract divers include wrecks, mines, or diving under ice. In…

46 EAST 70TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10021 WWW.EXPLORERS.ORG | 212-628-8383 AFRICA Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka gladys@ctph.org ALASKA OPEN—Interested parties, please contact: Idee Belau Co-chair Chapter Relations Committee alive2dive@yahoo.com ATLANTA Steve Pigott Tel: 770-337-5450 jagter@msn.com AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND Todd Tai todd@mivision.com.au CANADA George Kourounis chapterchair@explorersclub.ca CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA Jimmy McSparron jimmy@trekkingnut.com CHICAGO/GREAT LAKES Robert A. Shuchman, PhD Tel: 734-649-0937 shuchman@mtu.edu EAST & SOUTH ASIA Steven R. Schwankert Tel: 86-1350-116-3629 steven@sinoscuba.com FLORIDA Aida “Idee” Belau Tel: 321-243-8448 chair@floridaexplorersclub.org GEORGE ROGERS CLARK Leonard A. Weakley, Jr. Tel: 513-702-0725 lweakley@rendigs.com GREAT BRITAIN Eleuthera du Breuil Tel: 44-2036036974 eleutheradb@hotmail.com GREATER PIEDMONT James Borton 803-522-2324 HAWAII Gary Bowersox mrgary77@aol.com HONG KONG Michael E. Barth mebarth@explorershk.org Tel: 852-9618-8850 NEW ENGLAND Gregory Deyermenjian Tel: 781-968-5174 paititi@alumni.clarku.edu NORTH PACIFIC ALASKA Mead Treadwell Tel: 907-258-7764 Fax: 907-258-7768 meadwell@alaska.net NORTHERN…

BUZZ ALDRIN NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION. ON JULY 20, 1969, THE BONAFIDE AMERICAN HERO BECAME THE SECOND MAN TO WALK ON THE MOON, JUST BEHIND THE LATE NEIL ARMSTRONG. WHAT FOLLOWS ARE EXCERPTS FROM A CHAT WE HAD ON THE EVE OF THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THAT HISTORIC LUNAR LANDING. JC: What were your first impressions after landing on the Moon? BA: Obviously, when we touched down we were very relieved. Neil and I acknowledged that with a wink, nod, and pat on the shoulder. The immediate surface was very powdery. Off in the distance was a very clear horizon, maybe with a boulder. And, of course, the brightness of the sunlit surface was almost like looking out at sunlit snow. Your pupils close down, just as in orbit when the…