Aurora Expeditions has today announced NASA astronomer Dr Michelle Thaller and NASA Engineer Dr Andrew Booth as special guests for the expedition company’s total solar eclipse voyage in December 2021.Assistant Director for Science Communication at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre, Dr Michelle Thaller will act as the main lecturer for the voyage. Dr Thaller will conduct a series of talks together with Dr Andrew Booth on the solar eclipse, Antarctica and general astronomy in the staggering surroundings of Antarctica.
Travellers on this voyage will be part of a once-in-a-lifetime event as the full eclipse will only be visible from Antarctica. Taking place in the early hours of December 4, 2021, Aurora Expeditions’ soon-to-be-launched polar-class ship, the Greg Mortimer, will be in prime viewing position to see the moon transition in front of the sun, shrouding the white Antarctic wilderness in a surreal darkness.
“The extreme environment of Antarctica is used by NASA to simulate places as far away as Mars and the moons of Jupiter, and we promise to take the passengers along for a scientific journey they’ll never forget,” said Dr Thaller. Her husband and NASA Engineer Dr Andrew Booth continues:
“At this moment in history, world-class science is converging in Antarctica. From the changing ice of our planet, to extreme environments that simulate extra-terrestrial worlds, to observatories buried under the ice to detect the deaths of stars millions of years ago, to long dark nights that allow astronomers to peer to the edge of the known universe, Antarctica is where it’s all happening now.”
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