Lucía Hortal shared her experience as the scientific leader of the expedition SOS ARCTIC 2022 that has managed to circumnavigate the southern dome of Greenland on board a snow sled, in the new installment of the campaign #TalentMadrid of the Government Delegation.
For this Madrid woman who studied Chemistry at the Autonomous University of Madrid, being part of the group of explorers-scientists who had, as a scientific objective, to study climate change in polar environments, has been a “unique and enriching” experience both on a personal and professional level.
In particular, his research during the tour focused on two projects, both related to the existence of microorganisms and particles characteristic of the ice plateau.
On the one hand, samples from the interior of the ice have been collected for the Center for Astrobiology of the National Institute of Aeronautical Technique (Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeronáutica – INTA/CSIC), where a space research instrument, SOLID, is developed to detect life on other planets of the Solar System, such as Mars or the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. To this end, ice perforations of several meters deep have been made to extract samples with particles that will bring frozen particles to the CAB laboratories.
In addition, air samples have been collected for the project of the MicroAirPolar group of the Autonomous University of Madrid, whose objective is to develop a map of the microbial populations at the poles, to know how they are distributed, how resilient they are to climate change and how this can affect the other communities with which they interact. To this end, an active air sample collector has been designed along the route.
Wind sled
The great particularity of the expedition, which lasted from May 17 to June 11, 2022, is that, to move around, the group used as a vehicle a wind sled that is unique in the world, invention of Ramón Larramendi. “It is zero emissions and very curious, which meant that the expedition was not an expedition to use,” says Lucia.
Its basic structure consists of several wooden platforms with crossbars and rails (following the model of the classic Inuit sleds), kites of different sizes and tents designed as a space of habitability and work. The configuration of the wind sled, on this occasion, was that of four modules (locomotive, two load modules and one habitability module, where life is made). In total, 14 meters long by 3.5 meters long that were able to move about 2,000 kilos of material and reached a speed of 40 kilometers per hour in some sections.
The route, of more than 1000 kilometers, went from west to east of the island, and in it 31 days were invested, during which the expedition had to endure winds of more than 100 kilometers per hour, especially low temperatures and snowstorms.
Unique experiences
On their way, they managed to reach the old American base Dye 3, a place abandoned since 1990 that was built as a radar base by the United States in the 1950s. Its 30 meters of height are practically buried in the snow and only the upper sphere is visible, through which they managed to access its interior.
The SOS ARCTIC 2022 expedition has also marked a new milestone for Spanish exploration: the discovery of a mountain of rock, a nunatak (rock island surrounded by ice, in Inuit) of about 30 meters above the ice sheet and 2,205 meters above sea level. This geographical accident does not appear on any available map of the interior of the Arctic island.
New expedition in sight
Lucía Hortal has a new project in sight, in that case, in the South Pole, in Antarctica. “We are going to King George Island with the Uruguayan Antarctic Institute with an astrobiology project, which is my field,” he explains.
In particular, they are going to collect ice witnesses to analyze them, first in Madrid and then in Berlin, with a device that is “unique in the world and similar to the one that NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will carry”, and that will help the members of the same in their investigations on the moon of Jupiter. “We seek life, basically,” he said.
Lucía Hortal is a native of Tres Cantos (Madrid). He studied Chemistry at the Autonomous University of Madrid and holds a master’s degree in Organic Chemistry. She works as a researcher in the Planetary Sciences department of the Free University of Berlin, and also runs her own YouTube outreach channel (Orbytal).
Campaign #TalentMadrid
The Government Delegation launched on social networks the campaign with the hashtag #TalentMadrid to support initiatives and people who live and/or develop their activity in the region, highlighting in very varied disciplines, artistic, sports, scientific or social, among others.
The members of the billiard club Madrid Escuela Nacional were in charge of launching the campaign. The next protagonist was the professor of Technology and writer of scientific dissemination books Javier Fernández Panadero. The researcher of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), María Mittelbrunn, the champion of Cartomagic in 2022, Pepo Capel, the director and screenwriter Víctor Matellano or the sculptor Luis Berruti have so far joined the list of talents.
The content of this campaign can be followed in the profiles that the Government Delegation in the Community of Madrid has in:
X : @DGobiernoMadrid
Instagram: @DGobiernoMadrid
Youtube: https://youtu.be/RkwWyplvkSo?si=H8YOAc53yNaKjkjm