They started the expedition with 19 Siberian ponies, most died along the way, the remaining ponies were shot for food. wikipedia
It almost seems like Antarctic and Artic expeditions are a bad idea
There were far more successful ones at the same time that did well. This one is just infamous for bad management.
Amundsen, the one that succeded in the race to the South Pole lived by a great motto: You only need good luck if you didn’t plan properly. He was a true adventurer with a sharp mind, shame he disappeared on a rescue mission.
Semi fun fact; my great great grandfather was Amundsens brother. Well, one of the two brothers, anyway.
That’s amazing! I’m sure there’s loads of family stories?! Fun fact, I work at an archive and recently researched Amundsen’s North Pole expedition and the flying boat he used, very impressive story despite them failing to reach the pole!
Many expeditions to the “Unknown” ended gruesomely because they didn’t know and were not prepared; While going to these places today one has a very good chance to survive. I can only assume it will be the same with space explorations (once we’ll get there). The first trips will have extremely poor surviving rates but later you might as well go there with your class field trip.
I can only assume it will be the same with space explorations (once we’ll get there).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spaceflight-related_accidents_and_incidents
Orbital fatalities so far are just Soyuz 1, Soyuz 11, STS-51-L, and STS-107. We are still a bit early, but Space exploration has been surprisingly safe so far.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatalities_from_aviation_accidents
There were many more fatalities in the early days of aircraft, though airplanes proliferated more quickly than spacecraft have.
Space exploration has a decent safety record because we have not entered the age of commercial space exploration…
It’s been gradually ramping up with things like the Inspiration4 and Axiom missions, but still relatively slow. Yuri Gagarin’s historic flight is further from today than the Wright Brothers’ flight is from Yuri Gagarin’s flight.
Oh absolutely! And I’m honestly super excited for it even if Ill be an old man by the time it happens. However, we still have quite a few major technology gaps before it will really ramp up. I’d expect it will continue to warm for the next 15-20 years before it really even begins.
Yes, if you’re a pony.
The sled dogs were eaten too, if I remember correctly.