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The polar regions are more hostile to
life than any other part of the Earth.

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Human beings have little natural
protection against the cold,

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so why, for thousands of years,

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have we endured the hardships that
come from living here?

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And what keeps us coming back today,

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to the farthest extremes
of our planet?

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Winter in the most northerly town
on Earth, Longyearbyen.

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Here, for three months of the year,
the sun never rises.

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Only the full moon, which never
sets as far north as this,

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sheds any light into the darkness.

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This town was built here in Svalbard,

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only 700 miles from the North Pole,
to support a mine.

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The Arctic is rich in coal,
oil and minerals.

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In Siberia, the Russian
Arctic, the mineral

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wealth has given rise
to large cities.

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This is Norilsk,
the coldest city on Earth.

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Temperatures regularly drop
to below minus 50 degrees Centigrade.

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Fuel freezes in the tanks
of the trucks, and

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has to be melted in a
rather alarming way.

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Ships are frozen into the rivers
for nine months of the year.

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The ice must be cut
away from their hulls

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because steel becomes brittle
and vulnerable to the thickening ice.

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Like all Arctic cities,
Norilsk depends on a

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power plant which heats
everybody's home.

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Waste heat from the plant even keeps
a lake ice-free all winter.

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Even at air temperatures
of minus 50, the

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Norilsk Walrus Club
come here every day.

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There is evidence that a dip in cold
water is good for the immune system,

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but when the water is
a degree above freezing,

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it's hard to imagine that the
benefits could outweigh the pain.

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Today's Arctic city
dwellers can lead an

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almost normal existence
thanks to technology.

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But towns and cities are very recent
arrivals in the polar landscape.

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The polar regions are the least
populated part of our planet.

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Most of the Arctic remains
empty of human beings.

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In the north, the Pole itself is
covered by a freezing ocean.

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Around it lie vast lands, of which
Siberia is the largest and coldest.

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Human beings first ventured onto
the great plains of Siberia,

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the tundra, thousands of years ago,
and some live here still.

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The Dolgan are one of the few tribes
who still live in much the same way

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as those first Arctic pioneers.

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They are reindeer people.

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Reindeer are one of few animals that can
endure these bitterly cold conditions,

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scraping a living by nibbling tiny
plants that survive beneath the snow.

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Nobody has ever totally
tamed reindeer,

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but today's animals are docile enough
to allow the Dolgan

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to drive them across the tundra in an
everlasting search for their food.

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This is a typical Dolgan village,
home to just two extended families.

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Here, in the coldest part of Arctic,
the only way to get water

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for nine months of the year is to
melt ice from the frozen rivers.

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At least there's no problem
preventing food from decay.

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Outside is one big deep-freeze.

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Survival is only possible
because of reindeer fur.

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It makes wonderfully warm clothing,

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though small children still
have to be sewn into

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their clothes to prevent
instant frostbite.

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The Dolgan even use reindeer fur to
insulate their huts.

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This is living at its most communal.

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Good relations with the in-laws are
essential.

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Reindeer are so valuable
that the people

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only eat them if they
have no other choice.

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Their favourite food is
raw fish from the frozen rivers.

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Every week or so, these
families have to travel

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to find new feeding
grounds for their herds.

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First, they round up their strongest
animals with lassoes,

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a skill that their
ancestors brought with

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them when they came north
from Central Asia.

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And then, literally, they move house.

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A whole Dolgan village can move
on in just a few hours.

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Over the year, they travel hundreds of
miles like this across the vast tundra.

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It was the herds of reindeer, wandering
over the lands of the Arctic,

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that brought the first Dolgan here.

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Other people, however,
took on an even greater challenge.

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They left the land and looked
for their food out on the frozen sea.

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Here in the shifting world of the sea
ice, they found sea mammals.

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Pasha leads a group of
Inuit men in Chukotka,

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the North Eastern
corner of Russia.

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The men have travelled many
hours from home in the bitter cold,

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fighting their way through
a dangerous maze.

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These hundred tonne ice floes could
crush their small boats like eggshells.

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The men have big families, and this is
the only way they have of feeding them.

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Pasha is looking for the puffs of
steamy air produced by their quarry.

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An animal that is bigger than
many Arctic whales.

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A two tonne seal with formidable
tusks.

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A walrus.

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It's heading for open water.
They must reach it before it dives.

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An angry walrus could easily
overturn the boats.

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The harpoon sticks firmly in the
walrus's thick layer of blubber,

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and floats attached to it prevent
the animal from diving.

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Pasha wants to kill quickly with
a single clean shot.

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The hunters are exhausted
after a long day,

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but they still have a
lot more work to do.

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This enormous prize will feed
everyone's family for weeks.

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It will take many hours to butcher.
Nothing will go to waste.

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The meat is parcelled up in bags
made of the animal's skin.

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Summer is almost here.

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This far north,
the seasons change fast,

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the sun is rising higher and
growing warmer with each passing day.

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The transformation from winter to
summer is so dramatic

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that it dominates the lives of all
who live here.

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The ice around the coast has
almost disappeared,

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and gone are the seals and walrus
that Pasha and his men relied on.

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They set off on
another search for food.

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Their destination is
an island in the bay.

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Their walrus skin boat is
an ancient design,

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light enough to carry high up
the beach so it doesn't drift away.

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THEY SPEAK RUSSIAN

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Once again, the men will have to work
as a team,

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but one of them will be taking
very serious risks.

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The lightest man in the group, Kolya,
is also the oldest.

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He will trust his life
to a length of old

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nylon rope and the
strength of his friends.

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These 100 metre high cliffs are home
to thousands of guillemots,

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and Kolya is after their eggs.

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He relies on the men above to
lower him to the right place.

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Kolya is tough
but his stress is obvious.

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HE SHOUTS IN RUSSIAN

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The men lower Kolya down to
the bottom of the cliff,

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and from there, he works his way back
up the crumbling rock face.

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Stop!

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This mission will produce no more
than about 50 eggs,

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but at least there's no need to
carry a packed lunch.

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Over the years, many men have fallen to
their deaths collecting seabird eggs.

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This is truly dangerous work.

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These Arctic peoples can't
grow crops.

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The frozen ground never thaws to
allow them to do so.

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They rely on animals for their food
so the chance to collect a few

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dozen eggs has to be taken,
even if it means risking your life.

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The change of season has transformed
the Arctic's coastline

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and inland, the difference
is just as extreme.

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July temperatures on
the tundra can be

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surprisingly high, over
30 degrees centigrade.

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Reindeer now move not just to
find fresh pasture,

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but also to avoid the summer
swarms of blood sucking flies.

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To keep their animals healthy, the local
herders are driving them to the sea.

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The cooler conditions on
the coast bring relief to the herds

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and the chance, every year,
for different tribes to meet.

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Pasha and his hunters
live close by.

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They've had word of
the herders' arrival.

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The hunters' cargo is highly
prized for the winter ahead,

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fat-rich walrus meat
that's been fermenting

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in the skin bags for two months.

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Today will see an exchange that has
taken place every summer for centuries.

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The herders barter reindeer
skins for walrus meat.

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Pooling their resources has helped these
communities to survive for so long.

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A fry-up of guillemot eggs is all the
better when shared with old friends.

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Summer brings a brief
chance for isolated peoples to meet.

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This is an opportunity to exchange
news, arrange weddings,

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and tell the latest jokes.

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HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

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By August, the summer is over.

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Winter arrives only too swiftly,
but the peoples of the Arctic,

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who came here originally to hunt,
have devised ways to deal with

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the hostile and changing conditions
that have stood the test of time.

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Today, there's a new draw to the
Arctic.

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This is Greenland, a
territory of Denmark now

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known to be rich in oil
and precious metals.

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This sled team is
part of the Danish Special Forces.

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They're on one of the world's toughest
journeys, a 2,000 mile patrol

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to maintain Denmark's
claim to this valuable wilderness.

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But the patrol's mission
is only possible with

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the help of man's oldest
Arctic companion.

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Rasmus and Roland have spent the
summer months training

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and getting to know their team of
Greenland huskies.

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They need to have a very close bond
with every single dog.

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This is Roger and Armstrong,

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actually the oldest dog in the whole
patrol, but he's still going strong.

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The men are totally dependent on
the stamina of their dogs,

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which will keep on running all through
the bitter cold of the winter.

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This is the last time the team will
see the sun for two months.

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The most intelligent dogs
always lead,

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choosing the safest route, feeling
for hidden crevasses and thin ice.

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This is one of six teams that patrol
the whole of northeast Greenland,

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the only people in an
empty wilderness that is

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larger than France and
Great Britain combined.

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Conditions here are too extreme
for current mining technology,

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but some day, ways will be found of
digging out the huge mineral treasures

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that lie hidden within these
mountains.

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The patrol secures Denmark's claim to
do so simply by being here.

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But it's not the
prospect of getting rich

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that makes men sign
up for this patrol,

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it's the chance for the journey of a
lifetime.

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The team travel over
the ice for six

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months, covering up
to 40 miles in a day.

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Friendship and teamwork are essential
if they're to succeed.

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Their dogs can sleep outside no
matter how cold it gets.

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Rasmus and Roland have a
nice cosy tent.

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They have a few modern conveniences,
including a radio,

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with which they report their position
back to headquarters in Denmark

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and catch up on the latest news.

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Right now it's the section of money,

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what's new in the economy in
Denmark, the financial crisis

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and all the other things that we
actually don't care about out here.

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If you can cope with
the conditions, then

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winter in the Arctic
can be magical,

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especially when the greatest
light show on Earth is overhead.

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The first humans in the Arctic
believed the Northern Lights,

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or aurora borealis,
were dancing spirits.

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Now we know the lights are
caused by electrically

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charged particles
streaming from the sun,

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attracted by the magnetic
pull of the earth's poles.

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A big aurora storm contains enough
energy to knock out satellite

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communications and power supplies
across the northern hemisphere,

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so understanding the aurora
is vital.

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In Alaska,
rockets are used to study the Lights.

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A hundred miles up, at the edge
of outer space, the rockets

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release a cloud of glowing smoke
that's visible from earth.

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The smoke is blown by fierce winds
which are generated by the aurora.

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Mapping the movement of the smoke
helps scientists to understand

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how this unearthly spectacle
affects our atmosphere.

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They constantly monitor
the aurora to help protect us

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from its effects, so the rest of us
can simply enjoy the magic,

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just as the Arctic's first people must
have done, thousands of years ago.

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For all the many
peoples of the Arctic,

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the aurora is a
reminder of the sun's

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presence throughout the
dark days of winter.

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But when the sun
is below the horizon in the north,

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it's above it at the southern
end of our planet.

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Here, humanity's history has
been very different.

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Antarctica is far colder
than the Arctic,

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and 99% of its land is permanently
blanketed by ice.

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Antarctica is so utterly remote

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and inhospitable that no people
ever settled here.

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It was only 200 years ago that the
first human beings

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even glimpsed the vast continent.

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The first people who crossed
the Southern Ocean did

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so for the same reason that the first
people went to the Arctic Ocean,

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to hunt sea mammals.

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The populations of whales
and seals are only now beginning to

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recover from 150 years
of intensive hunting.

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But none of those hunters
ever tried to venture into

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the frigid interior of
the Antarctic continent.

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00:28:21,540 --> 00:28:26,700
The first successful attempt to do that
was made only a hundred years ago.

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00:28:28,900 --> 00:28:31,500
This hut was the base
for one of the most

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00:28:31,501 --> 00:28:34,100
famous expeditions
in polar history.

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00:28:40,940 --> 00:28:45,419
It was from here in 1911 that
Captain Scott and his team

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00:28:45,420 --> 00:28:49,860
launched their attempt to be the
first people to reach the South Pole.

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00:28:54,300 --> 00:28:56,899
The cold, dry conditions have
preserved the interior

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00:28:56,900 --> 00:29:01,380
of the hut almost exactly
as the expedition members left it.

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00:29:07,020 --> 00:29:09,900
Expedition photographer
Herbert Ponting

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00:29:09,901 --> 00:29:12,780
captured the spirit of
the age of exploration.

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00:29:17,860 --> 00:29:22,380
These first explorers borrowed
the techniques of the Arctic peoples.

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00:29:23,620 --> 00:29:28,940
They wore fur gloves and boots
and burned seal blubber to keep warm.

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00:29:31,020 --> 00:29:35,300
They built sleds based on a
traditional Inuit design.

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00:29:41,140 --> 00:29:44,980
They even made their sleeping
bags from reindeer hide.

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00:29:51,100 --> 00:29:56,739
Scott and his men sought the glory of
discovery in an untouched wilderness,

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00:29:56,740 --> 00:29:59,419
and died in the attempt.

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00:29:59,420 --> 00:30:03,179
But he, and those who followed him,
were the first to reveal

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00:30:03,180 --> 00:30:06,340
the splendour of Antarctica to
the rest of the world.

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00:30:14,500 --> 00:30:18,779
The lure of adventure still draws
intrepid travellers today.

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00:30:18,780 --> 00:30:21,259
Like the first explorers,

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00:30:21,260 --> 00:30:26,379
most modern visitors come during the
brief summer when the cold relents

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00:30:26,380 --> 00:30:31,699
enough for the toughest icebreakers
to reach the edge of the continent,

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00:30:31,700 --> 00:30:34,180
but most still need
a helicopter to go further.

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00:30:43,340 --> 00:30:47,179
The scenery in Antarctica is
magnificent and dramatic,

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00:30:47,180 --> 00:30:51,220
but what really attracts people
here is the wildlife.

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00:30:53,540 --> 00:30:56,460
An emperor penguin colony is
a particular highlight.

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00:31:00,820 --> 00:31:03,100
Because human beings
didn't arrive in the

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00:31:03,101 --> 00:31:05,379
Antarctic until the
past few centuries,

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00:31:05,380 --> 00:31:07,980
the animals have never
developed a fear of man.

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00:31:12,260 --> 00:31:16,980
But very strict regulations govern how
close people can approach any wildlife.

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00:31:18,860 --> 00:31:21,060
And when visitors
leave, they must take

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00:31:21,061 --> 00:31:23,260
every trace of their
visit away with them.

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00:31:51,060 --> 00:31:56,580
Since 1959, the whole of Antarctica has
been protected by international treaty.

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00:31:58,380 --> 00:32:02,739
The nations of the world have agreed
that no country can claim Antarctica,

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00:32:02,740 --> 00:32:04,900
or prospect for its oil or minerals.

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00:32:07,980 --> 00:32:11,779
The only significant human activities
allowed here are those that

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00:32:11,780 --> 00:32:14,540
extend our scientific knowledge.

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00:32:18,580 --> 00:32:22,380
But unlocking Antarctica's secrets
requires some unusual tools.

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00:32:40,620 --> 00:32:44,499
This brand new robot submarine has
been designed to go

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00:32:44,500 --> 00:32:47,060
far beyond the limits of any human.

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00:32:59,500 --> 00:33:02,320
Today, this diver is
putting the sub through

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00:33:02,321 --> 00:33:05,140
its paces on one of
its very first dives.

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00:33:06,460 --> 00:33:10,179
It's designed to be small
and nimble enough

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00:33:10,180 --> 00:33:14,140
to explore the Antarctic seabed
without damaging it.

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00:33:28,500 --> 00:33:32,859
The submarine's mission, as it
journeys into the unknown,

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00:33:32,860 --> 00:33:36,220
is to map the seafloor and look for
species new to science.

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00:33:51,780 --> 00:33:54,680
The seawater here is a
degree below zero, so even

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00:33:54,681 --> 00:33:57,580
the toughest human diver
can't stay down for long.

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00:34:01,180 --> 00:34:06,300
The submarine will explore deeper under
the ice than anyone has gone before.

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00:34:10,940 --> 00:34:15,899
From the depths of the ocean to
the highest peaks of the land,

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00:34:15,900 --> 00:34:18,680
new discoveries are being
made even in places

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00:34:18,681 --> 00:34:21,460
which were first visited
over a century ago.

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00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:41,780
Mount Erebus was an
irresistible draw to

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00:34:41,781 --> 00:34:44,560
the legendary explorer
Ernest Shackleton.

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00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:51,239
In 1908, his men became the first to
climb this active volcano.

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00:34:51,240 --> 00:34:56,040
They soon discovered that this is the
coldest place on the Antarctic coast.

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00:34:57,040 --> 00:34:59,160
Today's explorers
still have to guard

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00:34:59,161 --> 00:35:01,279
against frostbite in
the height of summer

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00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:04,960
when temperatures rarely creep
above minus 30 degrees centigrade.

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00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:15,719
Shackleton's men had no idea
of the extraordinary spectacle

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00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:18,040
that lay beneath their feet.

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00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:26,119
Yep, OK, up on the wall there
somewhere now. Yeah.

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00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:29,559
Under the ice and snow is a network
of caves,

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00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:34,520
which only a handful of expert cavers
have ever dared to enter.

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00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:46,080
This is the first scientific
expedition to explore them in detail.

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00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:56,240
Here, there are ice formations that
occur nowhere else on Earth.

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00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:03,160
Each cave contains its own unique
collection of structures.

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00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:36,439
The team is mapping the caves to see how
their shape changes over the years.

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00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:39,040
OK, flat side to here.

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00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:52,239
That's 126.8 degrees for the angle.

303
00:36:52,240 --> 00:36:53,799
126.8. Correct.

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00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:58,399
The steam leaking from vents
in the side of the volcano

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00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:02,680
is constantly sculpting this labyrinth
that extends deep under the ice.

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00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:08,439
When the hot breath of the volcano
hits the icy walls,

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00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:12,160
the moisture in the air
freezes into beautiful shapes.

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00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:30,399
Some of the crystals are so unusual
that the cavers are investigating

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00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:33,880
a remote but tantalising
possibility about their formation.

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00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:39,719
Could it be that some of these
extraordinary crystal shapes

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00:37:39,720 --> 00:37:44,520
are formed by highly specialised
bacteria, living in the ice?

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00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:02,639
Nobody yet knows the answer.

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00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:06,479
This is just one of the many strange
mysteries that draw people to

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00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:09,640
work in a place that is
so hostile to human life.

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00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:22,039
While some scientists come to Erebus
to explore its bizarre ice caves,

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00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:27,320
others visit the volcano to study
the innermost workings of our planet.

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00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:36,999
Erebus is one of the most active
volcanoes on Earth,

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00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:41,600
but even so, volcanologists work on
the very rim of its crater.

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00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:48,079
They stand in the bitter cold,
while 100 metres below them

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00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:51,560
is a lava lake where temperatures are
over a thousand degrees centigrade.

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00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:58,280
This is a rare glimpse
of the molten rock

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00:38:58,281 --> 00:39:01,160
that lies beneath
the earth's crust.

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00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:19,319
But research here is looking
up as well as down,

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00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:22,959
measuring how the gases that bubble
out of the volcano

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00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,000
influence the make-up of the air we
breathe.

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00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:34,519
Antarctica is the best place to
measure any changes in our atmosphere

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00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:38,080
because it has the least polluted air
on Earth.

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00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:44,280
It's also the perfect place to launch
more outward-looking missions.

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00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:54,599
This balloon, made of material no
thicker than Clingfilm,

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00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:57,600
will eventually grow to
be 300 metres tall.

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00:40:00,720 --> 00:40:04,599
It will carry a device for detecting
cosmic rays,

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00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:09,800
tiny particles from the beginning of
time that are only now reaching earth.

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00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:25,639
The balloon will travel to the very
edge of outer space

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00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:29,720
to gather clues about the formation
of the universe.

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00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:43,160
Even today, very few ever make
the journey inland from the coast.

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00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:48,800
We still know remarkably little
about the interior of the continent.

337
00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:55,719
The people on this plane are trying to
answer one of the fundamental questions.

338
00:40:55,720 --> 00:40:58,080
How much ice is there in Antarctica?

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00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,039
They measure
the depth of the ice sheet,

340
00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:11,040
which is over 4,000 metres in places,
using radar.

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00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:15,999
Their work will enable us to see

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00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:19,280
how the volume of Antarctica's ice
changes in the future.

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00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:24,000
It also makes it possible to map
a hidden landscape.

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00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:42,999
This plane is following the same route
through the Trans-Antarctic Mountains

345
00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:46,119
that Captain Scott took a hundred
years ago.

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00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:48,900
His team hauled their
sleds over a hundred

347
00:41:48,901 --> 00:41:51,680
miles up this glacier,
the Beardmore.

348
00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:03,039
Skirting seemingly endless crevasses,
with no map to guide them

349
00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:08,040
and no idea of what lay ahead, it was
a journey of extraordinary suffering.

350
00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:21,519
Their target lay beyond the
mountains,

351
00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:26,880
over 3,000 metres above sea level,
on the Antarctic Plateau.

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00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:37,119
An unbroken sheet of ice,
larger than Western Europe,

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00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:41,720
this is the coldest, the windiest,
the most lifeless place on Earth.

354
00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:55,559
Roald Amundsen's team narrowly
defeated Scott's to become

355
00:42:55,560 --> 00:43:01,800
the first people to reach the South
Pole on the 14th of December 1911.

356
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:08,560
Nobody else successfully completed the
journey for nearly 50 years after that.

357
00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:17,399
But, since 1957, there has been
a permanent base at the South Pole.

358
00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:20,040
You can even land a plane on
the ice runway.

359
00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:26,060
The early explorers
would be astounded by

360
00:43:26,061 --> 00:43:28,880
the facilities at the
South Pole today.

361
00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:35,000
Construction work isn't
easy when the average

362
00:43:35,001 --> 00:43:37,840
summer temperature is minus
25 degrees Centigrade.

363
00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:42,719
But, despite the difficulties, the
most high-tech scientific research

364
00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:47,120
station ever built was
unveiled here in 2006.

365
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:57,159
The brand new Amundsen-Scott South
Pole Station is designed to

366
00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:01,319
cope with the World's most
extreme conditions.

367
00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:06,679
The building's sloping edge deflects
the prevailing wind.

368
00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:10,239
Beneath, there are stilts that can
raise the whole building

369
00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:13,280
a further eight metres to keep
it above the accumulating snow.

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00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:27,759
Living inside is as close to being on a
space-station as you can find on Earth.

371
00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:32,239
This base is totally self-sufficient,
the people are completely

372
00:44:32,240 --> 00:44:36,800
cut off from the outside world for
more than half the year over winter.

373
00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:48,320
The total darkness makes this the
perfect place to study the night sky.

374
00:44:56,320 --> 00:45:00,399
The group of star gazers will be
the most isolated community on our

375
00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:03,720
planet, but they will have
all their needs catered for.

376
00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:13,479
There is even a greenhouse where
fresh vegetables grow under

377
00:45:13,480 --> 00:45:18,160
artificial light all through
the darkest, coldest winter anywhere.

378
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:39,720
The sun sets in March at the South Pole,
and won't rise again for six months.

379
00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:50,799
For a few days at this time of year,
high altitude clouds of ice crystals

380
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:53,180
continue to catch the
sunlight, even when

381
00:45:53,181 --> 00:45:55,560
the sun itself is far
below the horizon.

382
00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:16,359
But soon all trace of the sun
disappears,

383
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:21,560
and today's over-wintering scientists
remember the first explorers.

384
00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:29,959
These men, who endured
the winter in flimsy wooden huts,

385
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:34,359
borrowed knowledge from the Arctic
pioneers before them,

386
00:46:34,360 --> 00:46:40,079
but they came here to study and explore,
rather than to hunt or exploit.

387
00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:45,080
They embodied the human spirit that has
enabled us to survive at the poles.

388
00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:54,599
Here, we are pushed to our limits,
but in being pushed, humanity has

389
00:46:54,600 --> 00:47:00,200
achieved the extraordinary
and opened up the last frontier.

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00:47:00,225 --> 00:47:02,725
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