runway, being graded yet again, and the ship Aurora Australis a few km away at the edge of the sea-ice. It is 3000m long and about 50 m wide.
The ice is about 1.6 to 1.8 m thick, and the aircraft that lands weighs in excess of 40 tons. To check the ice can hold it, four 2-inch diameter drill holes are made around to monitor how far the ice sinks into the water. It's about 20cm from the surface of the ice to the water level,to begin with but about only 15cm afterwards as the ice is deformed by the weight of the Hercules.
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