1 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: A man is waiting for the wind. Specifically, he's waiting 2 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: for a northbound wind to carry him, his two man crew, 3 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: and their balloon from an island in the Arctic Ocean 4 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: all the way to the North Pole. They plan to 5 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: map their journey, note the weather, the ice, and whatever 6 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: else might be up there, and continue on their way 7 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:39,200 Speaker 1: to Alaska if they're lucky, Russia if they're not. It's 8 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety seven. For centuries, people have tried to reach 9 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: the North Pole by boat or by foot or dog sled, 10 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: but no one has come close. No one has ever 11 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: tried going there in a balloon. Few have even dreamt 12 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: of anything like this except one man, Our man, Salomon 13 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: Auguste Andrea. He is tall and blonde, with a broad 14 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: forehead and a dangling, feathery mustache. For the past twenty years, 15 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: he's spent his spare time flying and studying balloons. He's 16 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 1: become an expert of sorts enough that by July eighteen 17 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: ninety seven, he's confident and ready. The balloon has been sewed, sealed, 18 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,639 Speaker 1: and triple checked. There's extra equipment and plenty of food. 19 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: Andrea has even packed a tuxedo for all of the 20 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: celebratory dinners, he imagines he'll attend upon landing. Now they 21 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: just need that wind. Finally, on the morning of the eleventh, 22 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: clouds blow in from the south. The wind has picked up. 23 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: It's time. A gentle snow falls. As the three men 24 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: climb into the ballooned basket, Andre gives a clear and 25 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: simple command. Cut out comes a knife. The ropes are severed, 26 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: and the balloon rises. It catches that northerly wind. The 27 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: men are on their own now, and all the rest 28 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:27,119 Speaker 1: of the world can do is wait. Welcome to very 29 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: special episodes and iHeart original podcast. I'm your host, Danish 30 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: Swartz and this is the Arctic Balloon. Okay, I'm going 31 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: to dive right in. Did any of you guys watch 32 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 1: the TV show The Terror? 33 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 2: No? No, is it good? 34 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: I loved it. It's about a failed Arctic expedition, and 35 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: I think I just sort of have a fixation a 36 00:02:54,960 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 1: little bit on explorer voyages that go wrong, like shackle Fair. Yeah, Shackelford. 37 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: There was just an article about like the way that 38 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: journey was mismanaged, and I read the Wager, which is 39 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: a little different because it was a you know, shipwreck 40 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: survival story. But something about like the hubris of like 41 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: nineteenth century explorers just really gets me. And I had 42 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: no idea about this story, which I found so exciting 43 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: and so silly, like you also understand why it worked. 44 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: But also if you told anyone you're flying a balloon 45 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: to the North Pole, anyone would be like, that's a 46 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: bad idea. 47 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 3: Like hot air balloon into freezing temperatures. This is not 48 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 3: a good mix. 49 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 4: Yeah, I can't relate to most things in this episode. 50 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 4: I'll never be up on a hot air balloon. I 51 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 4: hate the cold, Dana, what about you? 52 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: No, And I never would be. I like reading about it, 53 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: but I would never submit myself to the elements in 54 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: that way. Too dangerous. 55 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 4: The one part that I did relate to was the 56 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 4: part where he's envisioning all the celebratory dinners he'll be 57 00:03:57,920 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 4: invited to and. 58 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 2: Decides to pass. 59 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 4: I say, Pakatos, just who knows, Like you've got to 60 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 4: be ready. 61 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 3: I like spirit. 62 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: If you were an explorer in the late nineteenth century 63 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: looking to go where no one else had gone, the 64 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: North Pole would have held a certain appeal. What might 65 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,799 Speaker 1: lie up there, what might live up there? 66 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 2: It was a very big time. This Victorian idea of 67 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 2: we must know the Earth. It was also a period 68 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 2: when myths were far more resonant in the lives of 69 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 2: human beings than they are now. Absolutely anything could be 70 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 2: waiting up there at the North Pole. 71 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:44,799 Speaker 1: Alec Wilkinson wrote a book about Solomon Auguste Andrea's voyage. 72 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: It's called The Ice Balloon. 73 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 2: These were gods stricken people. They just believe that this 74 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 2: is the holy place, the place where the myths gather, 75 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 2: the spirits gather, the winds come from. We need to 76 00:04:59,120 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 2: get there. 77 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,679 Speaker 1: Over the centuries, many had attempted to reach the North Pole, 78 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:10,040 Speaker 1: but none were successful. The Arctic was and is a 79 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: terrain that pushed the limits of the human mind and body. 80 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: Ships were abandoned, frozen in the ice or crushed by it. 81 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: Traveling by ski or dog sled was no better. The 82 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: ice was a beast no one could tame. Everyone turned back, 83 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: or worse, didn't return at all. They died from starvation, 84 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: from scurvy, or lead poisoning, from exposure or cold, from 85 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: going insane. And so for centuries the North Pole remained untouched. It, 86 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: along with its sister the South Pole, were considered the 87 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: last unmapped lands in the world. By the late eighteen 88 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: hundreds there was a concerted effort among countries, including the 89 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: UK's Sweden, the US and Norway to research and map 90 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: the area. It was the age of invention, and the 91 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: intrigue had now turned scientific. How did the Poles work? 92 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: Was their land or ice or just swirling vortexes of wind? 93 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: And even the simple question what was the weather like? 94 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: In eighteen ninety three, the famed Norwegian explorer fried yof 95 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: Nansen set sail on a ship designed to withstand the 96 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 1: crush of Arctic ice. Two years later, he had still 97 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: not reached the North Pole, so Nonsen and another man 98 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: left the rest of the crew on the ship and 99 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 1: decided to advance on skis, but the ice and cold 100 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: were too much. Eventually Nonsen was forced to turn around. 101 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: He made it back to Norway in August eighteen ninety six, 102 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: three years after the journey started, which leads us to 103 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: our guy, Salomon Auguste Andre. At first glance, Andrea may 104 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: not have been the most obvious Polar explorer candidate. He 105 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: had spent much of his professional life working at the 106 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: Swedish Patent office in Stockholm. He was a trained engineer 107 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: and a scientist, and much of his job involved traveling 108 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: around Europe looking for new and interesting inventions. 109 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 2: Andrea was a futurist. It was a period, I think, 110 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 2: when the belief was pervasive that there was nothing that 111 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 2: science couldn't accomplish. If you could imagine it and think it, 112 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 2: you might be able to bring it about. 113 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: He was fascinated by innovation. 114 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 2: He became interested in these hydrogen balloons, learned to fly them. 115 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: Andrea had long been captivated by the possibility of using 116 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: a hydrogen balloon to travel long distances over long periods 117 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: of time, days or even weeks. 118 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 2: Andre had this really quite revolutionary idea. Clearly, ships are 119 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 2: never going to reach the pole. The isis too formidable, 120 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 2: the circumstances are just simply too dreadful to survive in 121 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 2: the most hostile environment on Earth. So he had this 122 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 2: extraordinary idea of thinking, well, maybe we should use the air. 123 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 5: Ballooning is mostly dependent upon the atmospheric conditions. When you 124 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 5: go up in a balloon, you're trying to look for 125 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,439 Speaker 5: the air currents that will take you the direction in 126 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 5: which you want to go. 127 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:48,319 Speaker 1: Marrily Schmidt Mason is a former curator at the Albuquerque 128 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: Balloon Museum. She worked on an exhibit there called Arctic 129 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: Air The Bold Flight of essay andre As, she explains, 130 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: flying balloons puts you very much at the mercy of 131 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: the weather. 132 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 5: When you take off in a balloon, of course, you 133 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:09,439 Speaker 5: want to be launching within certain wind variables. 134 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 1: Balloons, especially gas balloons, are not like boats where you 135 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: can try to plot a course through the water. With 136 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:23,959 Speaker 1: a balloon, it's a constant battle with physics, with wind, temperature, 137 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,439 Speaker 1: gravity and weight. The goal is to maintain a certain 138 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: altitude without losing too much gas, which is easier said 139 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: than done. Baden Baden Powell from the Royal Aeronautical Society 140 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: once described the precariousness of balloon flight like this. A 141 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: ray of sunshine, a puff of cold or warm wind, 142 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: a touch of damp mist all cause the balloon to 143 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:55,520 Speaker 1: rise or fall. So Andre knew he couldn't just rely 144 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: on the winds to guide him. 145 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 5: Most gas balloons, Andrea's time just go up and look 146 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 5: for the different currents. Andrea had the idea that he 147 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 5: could steer his balloon by using a couple of different methods. 148 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: One way is to use an engine to go faster 149 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: than the wind, that's much of the idea behind something 150 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:25,079 Speaker 1: like a zeppelin. But Andrea decided to use heavy ropes 151 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: to slow down his balloon. This meant, in theory, he 152 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,240 Speaker 1: could then use a sail in much the same way 153 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: as if he were on a boat. He tested his 154 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: rope and sail system in a small balloon, taking various 155 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:44,679 Speaker 1: short trips over and around Sweden. After spending a total 156 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: of over forty hours traveling over nine hundred miles, Andrea 157 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: was convinced it worked. 158 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 5: He had done enough test flights and his smaller balloon 159 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 5: this fare that you know, he had some actual data 160 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 5: that said that this method of flying was possible with 161 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 5: the sales in the rope. 162 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 1: He now had proof of concept, but he also wanted 163 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,079 Speaker 1: the backing of his fellow scientific community. In the summer 164 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: of eighteen ninety five, Andre traveled to London to present 165 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: his idea at the sixth International Geographic Congress. He pitched 166 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: his idea of a flight to the North Pole with confidence. 167 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 6: It would seem as if it were about time to 168 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 6: look into the matter carefully, with a view to ascertaining 169 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 6: whether there is no other means of transportation than the 170 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,560 Speaker 6: sledge available for a journey in the regions referred to 171 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 6: I refer to the balloon. 172 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,439 Speaker 1: The concept was now out in the public, which also 173 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: meant it was open to public scrutiny. 174 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 2: Well, he had all kinds of skeptics. The objections raised 175 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 2: from you know you're going to die, to you cannot 176 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,439 Speaker 2: justify bringing others along with you. It's one thing if 177 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 2: you want to do it on your own, but to 178 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 2: bring companions is to put at risk the lives of 179 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 2: others for your not demented, but rather extravagant hope that 180 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 2: this project of yours, which has no precedent, will succeed, 181 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 2: because the other side of that is death. 182 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:30,440 Speaker 1: But Andre also had a host of supporters, and most importantly, 183 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: two influential allies, the engineer and inventor Alfred Nobel and 184 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: King Oscar the Second of Sweden. With their encouragement and resources, 185 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 1: Andre quickly raised enough money for his expedition. Now all 186 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 1: he needed to do was build a balloon, one that 187 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: could take him all the way to the North Pole. 188 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: It's the summer of eighteen ninety six. Andrea is in Svalbard, 189 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:14,960 Speaker 1: an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. He's camped on a 190 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: small outpost called Danes Island, about seven hundred miles south 191 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,959 Speaker 1: of the North Pole. He'd spent much of the past 192 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: year in Paris overseeing the construction of his balloon and 193 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:33,960 Speaker 1: preparing for the trip. He's used the finest craftsman, and 194 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: he spared no expense. The balloon, which was named Ernin 195 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 1: Or the Eagle, was made of multiple levels of silk, 196 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:47,200 Speaker 1: the color of a dusty rose. Fully inflated, it was 197 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: nearly one hundred feet tall, and there were dozens of innovations, 198 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: many of which Andrea devised himself, like a cook stove 199 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:01,439 Speaker 1: that hung below the basket so it could be lit 200 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:05,079 Speaker 1: and snuffed out at a safe distance from the extremely 201 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: flammable hydrogen gas that kept their craft aloft. There was 202 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: lots of storage, too. Andre packed provisions for four months. 203 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: He had a first aid kit and extra clothes. There 204 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: was also a Swedish flag, buoys to drop as markers, 205 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: and a bottle of champagne. He had been careful in 206 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: choosing the men who would accompany him, too, the respected 207 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: meteorologist Nils Ecombe, whose work later helped coin the term 208 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: the greenhouse effect, and the young physicist Nils Strindberg. The 209 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: one thing Andrea left to chance was where they'd land 210 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: after passing over the North Pole. They'd have to see 211 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: what the wind was like up there, which way it 212 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: blew them. So Andrea also packed three big sleds for 213 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: traveling across the snow and ice. He packed hunting guns, 214 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 1: a sleeping bag that fit three men, a tent and 215 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: a camping stove, and of course all the scientific equipment 216 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: needed to plot their course and make observations and measurements, 217 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,120 Speaker 1: along with a banger of a camera to capture a 218 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: world that no one else had seen. 219 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 5: One of his major things that he wanted to carry 220 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 5: out was the mapping of the Arctic, so that future 221 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 5: explorers to the region would know what they might find. 222 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 5: I think that was probably the most important scientific reason 223 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 5: for him to go. 224 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: That's museum curator and balloon expert Marilyne Mason again. 225 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 5: In terms of the instruments that he took along, I 226 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 5: think they were absolutely the best instruments that were available 227 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 5: at the time. The camera was state of the art. 228 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:03,400 Speaker 5: It had both a single lens and stereoscopic lenses. 229 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: For every doubt raised, Andre had an answer or a solution. 230 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: He was confident and unfazed, you know. 231 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 5: He was an engineer. He was very systematic in the 232 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 5: way he went about how he might do this. He 233 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 5: did a really good job of figuring things out. I 234 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 5: mean he had drawings of everything. I mean he really 235 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 5: thought about what he was doing. 236 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: And now here he was in August of eighteen ninety six, 237 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: some seven hundred miles from the North Pole, waiting for 238 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:43,160 Speaker 1: his dream to be realized. When his team, which included 239 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 1: his two flight mates plus dozens of scientists and carpenters 240 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: to help with the launch, had sailed to Stalbard from 241 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: mainland Sweden in June, a crowd forty thousand deep cheered 242 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: as their boat pulled away from the docks. It had 243 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: taken them weeks to set up. The crew first had 244 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: to construct a massive wooden structure to hold the balloon 245 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: until takeoff. There was also hydrogen to be concocted, silk 246 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,199 Speaker 1: to be varnished, ropes to be tested, and of course, 247 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: the balloon itself had to be filled and checked again 248 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: and again for leaks. Dozens of ships carrying both gawkers 249 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: and reporters also arrived. So many journalists visited that Andre 250 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,640 Speaker 1: spent hours each day talking to them. He was hailed 251 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:40,679 Speaker 1: as a national hero in Sweden. The world was on 252 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: his side. Unfortunately, the wind wasn't. 253 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:47,200 Speaker 5: The correct winds never came. 254 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: Yes, Andre had figured out a way to steer the 255 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,640 Speaker 1: balloon once it was in the air, but the eagle 256 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,600 Speaker 1: still relied on the wind to get going. 257 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:01,199 Speaker 5: So he was waiting for winds from the south to 258 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:04,920 Speaker 5: take him to the north. That didn't happen. This happens 259 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 5: very often in long distance balloon flight. 260 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: He couldn't afford to wait any longer. Literally, the insurance 261 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 1: on the ship that had brought them a ship that 262 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: was still waiting there was about to lapse. So he 263 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:24,479 Speaker 1: made a tough but practical decision. He called off the trip. 264 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: The crew opened the valves on the balloon. It took 265 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:30,440 Speaker 1: seven hours to deflate. 266 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,760 Speaker 5: A lot of people thought, oh, Andre's of failure. You know, 267 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:41,119 Speaker 5: he took all this stuff there in eighteen ninety six 268 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 5: and he didn't take off. Well, that's kind of how 269 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:47,199 Speaker 5: it goes with gas balloon flying. I think one of 270 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:51,159 Speaker 5: the things that some people don't understand about the first 271 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 5: Andrea attempt is he was doing the right thing by 272 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:59,159 Speaker 5: not taking off. You know, the correct conditions did not. 273 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:04,800 Speaker 1: Exist to call this a disappointment was an understatement. Andre 274 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 1: may have known he had made the right call, but 275 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: the timing could not have been worse. The Norwegian explorer 276 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:17,680 Speaker 1: friedioff Nansen had finally returned home from his three year journey. 277 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:20,959 Speaker 1: He never reached the pole, but he had gotten close, 278 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 1: closer than anyone else had before, and he'd survived an 279 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 1: entire winter in the Arctic. He was a national hero 280 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:34,119 Speaker 1: for Norway. Andre had wanted to do this for Sweden, 281 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 1: and now he returned to Stockholm, unadorned and uncelebrated. No 282 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:47,200 Speaker 1: cheering fans, no scientific discoveries, no world records. Instead, he 283 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: went back to work at the patent office. But despite 284 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 1: the setback, his faith in his balloon never altered. He 285 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:59,919 Speaker 1: sought no reason not to try again. Critically, Alfred Nobel 286 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,919 Speaker 1: was still offering his support, as were many others, so 287 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:08,240 Speaker 1: Andre started planning for a new attempt the following year. 288 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:14,199 Speaker 1: But while Andre had no apprehensions, others did. One was 289 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:18,359 Speaker 1: friediof Nansen himself, who told Andre he thought the plan 290 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 1: was too dangerous. Another was Nil's Echom, the meteorologist on 291 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 1: Andre's own crew. After the disappointment of the previous summer, 292 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: he publicly dragged the balloon's capabilities and decided to drop out. 293 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 1: Andrea paid it little mind. Nils Strindberg, the physicist and photographer, 294 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,879 Speaker 1: was still on board, and eCOM was quickly replaced with 295 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:50,000 Speaker 1: Newt Frankel. Besides being trained as a civil engineer, Frankel 296 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: was young and athletic. By June of eighteen ninety seven, 297 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: the men were back on Svalbard, getting ready for liftoff 298 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:03,439 Speaker 1: take to two. But again they waited for the wind 299 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:08,479 Speaker 1: and waited. The days ticked by. The men kept busy. 300 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 1: Strindberg used the state of the art camera to take 301 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,199 Speaker 1: photos of the launch area. He wrote letters to his 302 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: fiance back on the mainland. Frankel helped supervise balloon preparations. 303 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: Andrea was always on the move, overseeing everything. There was 304 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 1: always more to double triple check. So when that north 305 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: blowing wind finally came the morning of July eleventh, they 306 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:39,880 Speaker 1: were ready. The conditions were good, or good enough. It 307 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: was time to go. Andrea spoke to the press once 308 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:45,399 Speaker 1: more before departing. 309 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 6: At least not before three months and one year. Perhaps 310 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,160 Speaker 6: two years may elapse before you hear from us, and 311 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,639 Speaker 6: you may one day be surprised by news of our 312 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 6: arrival somewhere, and if not, if you never hear from us, 313 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,200 Speaker 6: others will follow in our wake. Until the unknown regions 314 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 6: of the north have been surveyed. 315 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:10,600 Speaker 1: That afternoon, in front of a cheering crowd, the ropes 316 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: holding the eagle are cut. 317 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 2: In the end, no matter what he had planned and 318 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:23,720 Speaker 2: how he had managed to cover himself, there was still 319 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:26,159 Speaker 2: going to be a moment when the balloon lifted off, 320 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,200 Speaker 2: and no one knew what would happen. 321 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: And almost immediately they hit a snag. 322 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 2: If one were looking for an omen it happens immediately 323 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:37,840 Speaker 2: after launching. 324 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:41,320 Speaker 1: There's a problem with the guide ropes, which had been 325 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:42,720 Speaker 1: laid out on the beach. 326 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 5: As the balloon took off, the joints that held the 327 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:53,920 Speaker 5: different sections of the ropes were spinning and detached themselves. 328 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,200 Speaker 1: This was not part of the plant. 329 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:01,160 Speaker 2: So they've lost some of their ability before they're even 330 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:05,879 Speaker 2: two hundred yards from the log site to control their 331 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,679 Speaker 2: altitude as carefully and as precisely as they'd like to 332 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:11,199 Speaker 2: be able to do so. 333 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 5: Unfortunately, at the time of takeoff, he lost what he 334 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 5: was really relying on to influence the direction of the 335 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:24,320 Speaker 5: balloon through the flight, so Instead of being what he 336 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 5: thought was going to be a dirigible, a directable balloon 337 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,439 Speaker 5: that he could orient the way that he wanted to, 338 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:32,160 Speaker 5: it became a free. 339 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: Balloon, despite having no way to steer. The men are 340 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,200 Speaker 1: in good spirits. The balloon is in the air. They're 341 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: heading north and making good time. Andre writes in his journal. 342 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:49,720 Speaker 6: It is not a little strange to be floating here 343 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 6: above the polar Sea, to be the first that have 344 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:56,920 Speaker 6: floated here in a balloon. How soon, I wonder, shall 345 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 6: we have successors? Shall we be thought mad? Or will 346 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,960 Speaker 6: our example be followed? I cannot deny that all three 347 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 6: of us are dominated by a feeling of pride. 348 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 1: That night they celebrate, they drink some ale. But flight 349 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:18,560 Speaker 1: itself is becoming difficult because there is something amidst all 350 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:24,680 Speaker 1: their calculations that they hadn't thought about. The sun, or 351 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:26,400 Speaker 1: rather the lack thereof. 352 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 2: A hydrogen balloon has to be managed fairly carefully. As 353 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,880 Speaker 2: long as the sun falls on it and heats the gas, 354 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,120 Speaker 2: it will advance or it will stay aloft. 355 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,439 Speaker 1: And as it turns out, the weather in July is 356 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: quite foggy. 357 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,679 Speaker 5: One of the problems, I think was that there was 358 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 5: very little weather science. At that point, people really didn't 359 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,360 Speaker 5: know what the weather was at the North Pole or 360 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 5: you know, that whole region. I think Andre made some 361 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 5: assumptions that it was going to be clear sailing. Unfortunately 362 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 5: for him, it wasn't. 363 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,119 Speaker 2: It's not as if they had the records of the 364 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 2: past fifty years to determine what's the best time for sunlight. 365 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:19,159 Speaker 2: They're going into the unknown. 366 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:24,399 Speaker 1: In these overcast conditions. Andre's balloon wants to descend to 367 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:26,879 Speaker 1: counteract that you need to drop weight. 368 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,880 Speaker 5: The way you control a balloon is by controlling your 369 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 5: altitude with your ballast and the amount of guess that 370 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 5: you have in your balloons. If there's rain or mist 371 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 5: coming down and settling on the top of the balloon, 372 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,879 Speaker 5: that adds weight and it forces the balloon down. 373 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,239 Speaker 1: The men are tossing ballast, extra rope, anything they can 374 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:56,000 Speaker 1: do to keep the balloon in the air. It's not 375 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 1: part of the plan, but they feel confident that they 376 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 1: can keep going. On July thirteenth, they release one of 377 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 1: the carrier pigeons given to them for communicating their progress 378 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: with the world. It arrives at a boat near Spitsbergen 379 00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: two days later. The message reads all well on board, 380 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:22,960 Speaker 1: but while their spirits remain high, the eagle does not. 381 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:28,080 Speaker 1: Despite their best efforts, the balloon has lost too much air. 382 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:33,919 Speaker 1: On July fourteenth, eighteen ninety seven, at around seven thirty am, 383 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: the eagle lands on the Arctic ice, after nearly sixty 384 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: five hours in the air, longer than anyone had ever 385 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 1: flown in a balloon before. The men had traveled five 386 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:50,439 Speaker 1: hundred and seventeen miles, though not in a straight line. 387 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:55,160 Speaker 1: They were still at least three hundred miles from the pole. 388 00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:59,800 Speaker 5: One thing that I've always been bothered by is this 389 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 5: sensationalism that Andrea crashed. Well, you know, it was actually 390 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:11,400 Speaker 5: a controlled landing, and I think when they figured out 391 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 5: they should land, they landed, and he was prepared to 392 00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 5: travel on the land once he got there. He knew 393 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:23,480 Speaker 5: that was a possibility he had anticipated though. 394 00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:28,639 Speaker 1: Stringberg takes some photographs of the Eagle on the ice 395 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 1: that day. The images show an inky, black balloon. It's 396 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:38,439 Speaker 1: lying on its side, partially deflated, a fallen creature taking 397 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:43,760 Speaker 1: its last breaths. Andrea and Frankel stand beside the basket, 398 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:48,800 Speaker 1: human shaped specks. All around them is white and gray 399 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 1: ice and sky. It was this particular photograph that actually 400 00:27:55,640 --> 00:28:00,080 Speaker 1: drew Alec Wilkinson to Andre and his story. It's the 401 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: cover of his book, The Ice Balloon. 402 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:05,680 Speaker 2: It was a very compelling image. It's the most wildly 403 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 2: improbable photograph in the Annals of Exploration. For a while, 404 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:11,200 Speaker 2: I didn't even believe it was real. 405 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 1: It must have seemed unreal to Andre too. His balloon 406 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: is gone, but his mission is not yet over, not 407 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 1: even close. The men spend the next week preparing. They 408 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:31,359 Speaker 1: pack their sleds heavy with clothes, provisions, and guns. On 409 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 1: July twenty second, they leave the balloon and head southeast 410 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:40,160 Speaker 1: toward Cape Flora on Franz Joseph Fland. It's a more 411 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: than two hundred mile journey, but Nansen had spent a 412 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,040 Speaker 1: winter there, and more importantly, they know they'll find a 413 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 1: supply of food left especially for stranded explorers like them. 414 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,240 Speaker 1: They too, plan to spend the winter there before making 415 00:28:58,360 --> 00:28:59,320 Speaker 1: their way home. 416 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 7: July twenty second, it is nearly seven pm and we 417 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 7: have just packed our sledges ready and intend to start 418 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 7: from our landing place. We shall see how he managed 419 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 7: to get to Cape Flora. The sledges are heavy to pull. 420 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:34,720 Speaker 8: July twenty three. Temperature negative one point five degree celsius. 421 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:42,080 Speaker 8: Wind southeast two point eight meters per second, sunshine. 422 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,680 Speaker 6: Twenty fourth of July. The salt water in a pool 423 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 6: on the ice. The lanes of water on the ice troublesome. 424 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 1: As the men pull their sledge across the Arctic ice. 425 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 1: They document their voyage in their journals. Neil Strindberg addresses 426 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 1: his writings to his fiancee Anna. 427 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 7: July twenty fifth. Well, now your Nils knows what it 428 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,920 Speaker 7: is to walk on the polar ice. We had a 429 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 7: little mishap at the start, when we were crossing from 430 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 7: our ice flow. With the first sledge. It went crooked 431 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 7: and fell in. Andre and Frankl crossed over, and then 432 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 7: suddenly we managed to get the sledge up. But I 433 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 7: expect that my pack is wet inside. 434 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 1: Andre's entries are optimistic and particularly attuned to the details 435 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:28,200 Speaker 1: of nature. 436 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 6: Fifth of August. Some drops of rain fell on all 437 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 6: fours today, as in the spring of our youth. Great 438 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 6: seal on the ice, many bear tracks, fulmers, one red 439 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 6: gulf and Frankele. 440 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:45,680 Speaker 1: The engineer gets straight to the point. 441 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:51,360 Speaker 8: August twelfth, temperature negative one point six degree celsius wind 442 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:55,280 Speaker 8: southwest four point one meters per second dog. 443 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 1: But as the weeks pass it becomes clear that this 444 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 1: way of traveling is no small task. 445 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:07,480 Speaker 6: Nineteenth of August, the terrain exceedingly tiring, the new snow 446 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:08,720 Speaker 6: preventing us from the sea. 447 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 8: Temperature negative five point five degree celsius wind northwest six 448 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 8: point eight. 449 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:18,120 Speaker 6: It now begins to feel cold. Tonight was the first 450 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 6: time I thought all. 451 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 7: The look the immediate goal now is our wintering place. 452 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 7: We hope to find things better in the future. 453 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 1: Reaching Franz Joseph Land before winter is beginning to feel unrealistic. 454 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 9: It's very easy to underestimate, especially in eighteen ninety seven, 455 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 9: what the ice is like up in. 456 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:52,800 Speaker 5: The Arctic and on the Arctic Ocean in particular. 457 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:54,720 Speaker 9: It's not at all a flat surface. 458 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,400 Speaker 1: And Bancroft, no relation to the actress, is a polar 459 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:04,440 Speaker 1: explorer and educator. In nineteen eighty six, she, as part 460 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 1: of an eight person and forty nine dog crew, became 461 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: the first recorded woman to reach the North Pole by 462 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 1: crossing the ice. 463 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 9: Over time is that the currents of the ocean and 464 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:20,960 Speaker 9: the wind pushes that ice cap around, So if you're 465 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 9: traveling on it. It's very deceiving. 466 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:27,840 Speaker 1: In the Arctic, the ice you're on it's not stationary. 467 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:32,960 Speaker 1: This is sea ice, and it's constantly moving. The ice 468 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:38,479 Speaker 1: itself can warp, creating ridges and hills, some as tall 469 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:44,240 Speaker 1: as buildings. Traveling over or around them is exhausting work. 470 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:49,320 Speaker 1: Not to mention, you're contending with strong ocean currents pushing 471 00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 1: you back the way you'd come. 472 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:54,400 Speaker 9: So you can go ten miles north, for instance, pushing 473 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 9: and pulling. Whatever the conditions are, whether they're kind of 474 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 9: flat for periods of time or filled with eighty foot 475 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:05,200 Speaker 9: wall of ice buckled up like little mountain ranges, which 476 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 9: are horrible. You can go to sleep and you'll drift 477 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 9: back ten mile so you can have a zero. 478 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:17,120 Speaker 1: Some day, and traveled to the North Pole as part 479 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:22,160 Speaker 1: of the Steger International Polar Expedition. By nineteen eighty six, 480 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 1: the North Pole was no longer Terra incognita. Others had 481 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:31,920 Speaker 1: managed to reach it, including by aircraft, submarine, and snowmobile, 482 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 1: but the Steager expedition wanted to travel like how the 483 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:41,600 Speaker 1: early explorers did on foot with dog sleds. They wouldn't 484 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:46,200 Speaker 1: rely on planes for resupply. They would carry everything they 485 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:48,360 Speaker 1: needed for their journey on their own. 486 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 9: There is a monotony there, you know, it's putting one 487 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:54,160 Speaker 9: foot in front of the other. 488 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,959 Speaker 1: So to a certain extent, her trudge across the Arctic 489 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,640 Speaker 1: ice would have been quite similar to Andre's. 490 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,760 Speaker 6: Ninth of August. At two twenty am, we begin to 491 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:11,600 Speaker 6: get up in the tent three eighteen, the steak ready, 492 00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:15,720 Speaker 6: and the coffee making begun. Three twenty nine. The steak 493 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 6: eaten three forty eight, the coffee made four o'clock, the 494 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:23,360 Speaker 6: coffee drunk five point thirty broke camp. 495 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:28,839 Speaker 9: Our routine is very strict about when we're moving, how 496 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,880 Speaker 9: we're moving, when we're eating, how we're drinking, because everything 497 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,600 Speaker 9: is tremendous effort, particularly in the Arctic. 498 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:42,120 Speaker 6: Our journey today has been terrible. We have not advanced 499 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:45,960 Speaker 6: one thousand meters, but with the greatest difficulty have dodged 500 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:47,280 Speaker 6: on from flow to flow. 501 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 9: It is very, very hard travel. You are in extreme 502 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:54,600 Speaker 9: environments that can change very quickly. They can go from 503 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:58,560 Speaker 9: a very benign, you know, absolutely beautiful moment where you 504 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:01,719 Speaker 9: see the low lying sun and the wind isn't grinding 505 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:03,960 Speaker 9: you down, and then all of a sudden something changes. 506 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:06,920 Speaker 9: You have to be constantly aware. 507 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:10,040 Speaker 6: First thing in the morning, I got into the water 508 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 6: and so did my sledge, so that nearly everything became 509 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:18,000 Speaker 6: wet through Strinberg ran into Frankel's sledge and broke the boat. 510 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:22,160 Speaker 6: All the sledges turned somersaults repeatedly during the course of 511 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:26,400 Speaker 6: the day. The going was good, but the country terrible. 512 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:30,239 Speaker 9: Just to give you an idea of how arduous the 513 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:34,319 Speaker 9: beginning of these journeys are because of the pack ice. 514 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:38,520 Speaker 9: The first day, in eight hours of pushing and pulling, 515 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,440 Speaker 9: we only made a mile. I said, well, this is 516 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 9: going to be the tenor this is how it's going 517 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:44,399 Speaker 9: to be. 518 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 6: Tramp on our knees in deep snow cut our way. 519 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:53,680 Speaker 6: The constant mist prevents us from choosing good road. Ever 520 00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:56,880 Speaker 6: since the start, we have been in very difficult country. 521 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:02,200 Speaker 1: Not only is the travel difficult, it can also be 522 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:03,640 Speaker 1: very dangerous. 523 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:08,480 Speaker 9: Those currents can pull the ice apart. It's so incredibly strong, 524 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 9: and sometimes right before you you see the ice start 525 00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:17,040 Speaker 9: to separate in fissures and you've got open water. You know, 526 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:18,720 Speaker 9: there's never a dull moment. 527 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:22,680 Speaker 6: During the night, the ice had altered very much. Many 528 00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:25,640 Speaker 6: seals in the large open waters between the floes. 529 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,960 Speaker 1: But even with all this hardship, there's a beauty in 530 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,720 Speaker 1: the Arctic that's impossible to ignore. 531 00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:36,320 Speaker 9: The light in the Arctic is it is somewhat different, 532 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:39,560 Speaker 9: and it is certainly very magical. There were times when 533 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:41,960 Speaker 9: I just didn't think I could do it one more moment, 534 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:44,400 Speaker 9: and then all of a sudden, I look up and 535 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 9: there's that low lying Arctic sun hitting all the ice crystals, 536 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:52,400 Speaker 9: and there's color dancing around the surface of the ice 537 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:55,759 Speaker 9: in a way I've never seen it before, And I think, 538 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,680 Speaker 9: how lucky am I, you know, to be a group 539 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 9: of so few that have been able to see the 540 00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:04,960 Speaker 9: splendor of the Arctic Ocean in this way. 541 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:11,720 Speaker 6: The sun touched the horizon at midnight, the landscape on fire, 542 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:14,840 Speaker 6: the snow a sea of flame. 543 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:24,880 Speaker 1: By the end of August, Andre and his companions have 544 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:28,959 Speaker 1: been traveling for more than six weeks, but they are 545 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:35,040 Speaker 1: still on pack ice, drifting haphazardly south, and the already 546 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:40,880 Speaker 1: strenuous travel is now compounded by injuries, illness, and increasingly 547 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:41,960 Speaker 1: worse weather. 548 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:47,560 Speaker 6: Twenty fourth of August, last night, Frankel had severe diarrhea, 549 00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:52,120 Speaker 6: but this probably was the result of catching cold. Strindberg's 550 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:55,600 Speaker 6: tender foot had been cured by rubbing boot grase on 551 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,440 Speaker 6: the stocking. Cramp relieved immediately by massage treatment. 552 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:06,240 Speaker 8: August thirty, temperature negative six point six degrees celsius, wind 553 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:09,520 Speaker 8: northwest five point two five meters per second. 554 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:16,560 Speaker 1: On September seventeenth, however, something momentous happens. They spot an 555 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:22,120 Speaker 1: island called New Iceland or White Island. It's the first 556 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:26,960 Speaker 1: land they've seen since leaving Spitzbergen in the balloon, and 557 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:32,320 Speaker 1: it instantly raises their spirits. The next day also happens 558 00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:36,040 Speaker 1: to be a Swedish holiday, do Bilee Day. It's in 559 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:39,680 Speaker 1: honor of King Oscar the Second, the same king who 560 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:44,440 Speaker 1: had supported this very expedition. The men celebrate accordingly. 561 00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:50,879 Speaker 8: Temperature negative three degrees celsius, wind northwest two point one 562 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:51,880 Speaker 8: meters per second. 563 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:56,879 Speaker 6: We had the Swedish flag hoisted, and finished the day 564 00:38:57,320 --> 00:38:59,239 Speaker 6: with a ceremonial. 565 00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:04,000 Speaker 7: Meal steak and ivory, goal fried in butter and seal, blubber, seal, liver, 566 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:08,320 Speaker 7: brain and kidneys port wine given by the King. Speech 567 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:14,200 Speaker 7: by Andre for the King with royal hurrah, national anthemine unison, biscuits, butter, cheese, 568 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:16,600 Speaker 7: glass of wine, festive feeling. 569 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:22,360 Speaker 1: But despite their cheerfulness, as the days pass, the weather 570 00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:27,319 Speaker 1: continues to get colder, which means the ice starts to 571 00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:31,800 Speaker 1: freeze together. This makes it harder to hunt for seals, 572 00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:35,200 Speaker 1: a source of food, not just for them, but for 573 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:37,400 Speaker 1: the polar bears that live up there. 574 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,279 Speaker 6: Twenty ninth of September we are still lying off the 575 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:42,760 Speaker 6: south side of New Iceland. 576 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:44,400 Speaker 2: The bears are coming. 577 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:47,839 Speaker 6: The one that visited us last night dragged away our 578 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:50,520 Speaker 6: big seal twice, and we should have lost it if 579 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:53,520 Speaker 6: Stringberg had not succeeded in coming so near the bear 580 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,360 Speaker 6: that he frightened him and made him drop his booty. 581 00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:02,560 Speaker 8: September thirty, temperature negative seven point one degree celsius, wind 582 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:07,400 Speaker 8: north two point one meters per second, Strato cumulus. 583 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:12,400 Speaker 1: And as always, life on the ice holds other perils. 584 00:40:13,239 --> 00:40:19,200 Speaker 8: October two, temperature negative nine degrees celsius, clear sunshine. 585 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:23,600 Speaker 6: At five point thirty am we heard a thunderous crash. 586 00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:28,040 Speaker 6: We found that our large, beautiful flow had been splintered 587 00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:31,719 Speaker 6: into a number of little flows. Our belongings were scattered 588 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:36,520 Speaker 6: among several blocks, so that we had to hurry. Luckily, 589 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:40,560 Speaker 6: the weather was so beautiful we could work in haste. 590 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:44,720 Speaker 6: No one had lost courage. With such comrades, one should 591 00:40:44,719 --> 00:40:49,239 Speaker 6: be able to manage under I may say, any circumstances. 592 00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:56,880 Speaker 1: On October fifth, eighteen ninety seven, after months of battling 593 00:40:56,920 --> 00:41:01,400 Speaker 1: the Arctic fog, ice, snow currents, and polar bears, the 594 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:05,919 Speaker 1: trio finally makes it to New Iceland and takes their 595 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:11,200 Speaker 1: first steps on solid ground in almost three months. But 596 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:16,000 Speaker 1: there's no time to waste. Winter is coming. In fact, 597 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:20,640 Speaker 1: it's here. They immediately get to work building their camp. 598 00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:23,680 Speaker 1: They erect the tent and set up their stove. They 599 00:41:23,719 --> 00:41:28,280 Speaker 1: collect driftwood to build a more permanent structure. They're prepared 600 00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:31,840 Speaker 1: to spend months in the Arctic until spring comes and 601 00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:36,080 Speaker 1: they can continue back to Sweden. They're prepared to wait. 602 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,239 Speaker 2: They kept very much to a sort of you know, 603 00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:45,480 Speaker 2: nineteenth century intrepid sense. Let's keep our spirits up boys. 604 00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:48,440 Speaker 2: No room for gloomy fox here. Because at this point 605 00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:53,160 Speaker 2: a reader knows they're doomed, but they don't know. Right 606 00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:55,640 Speaker 2: up to the end of when their records were kept, 607 00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:57,719 Speaker 2: they appear to believe they'll be. 608 00:41:57,760 --> 00:42:02,440 Speaker 1: Home in the lower latitudes. The rest of the world 609 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:06,799 Speaker 1: was also waiting for news of Andrea's travels. No one 610 00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:10,320 Speaker 1: had heard from them since July, when the carrier Pigeon 611 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:15,960 Speaker 1: was found. Search parties were sent out and returned empty handed, 612 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:18,520 Speaker 1: but people were still hopeful. 613 00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:23,480 Speaker 5: There were sightings all over the world. You know, we 614 00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:28,360 Speaker 5: found Andrea's balloon, or there were three people that were 615 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:31,920 Speaker 5: found in different you know, five six different parts of 616 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:35,520 Speaker 5: the world. He was really kind of a worldwide phenomenon. 617 00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:39,960 Speaker 1: A few things that were found, like Booie's Marked Andrea 618 00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:43,960 Speaker 1: Polar expedition, were real. They had been dropped from the 619 00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:47,600 Speaker 1: Eagle as the balloon had struggled to make its way north. 620 00:42:48,160 --> 00:42:52,960 Speaker 1: But the other supposed sightings, the messages, they turned out 621 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:56,560 Speaker 1: to be just rumors. There was no sign of the 622 00:42:56,640 --> 00:43:06,000 Speaker 1: men alive or dead. That is until August nineteen thirty, 623 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:12,160 Speaker 1: more than three decades later, a Norwegian ship was up 624 00:43:12,239 --> 00:43:16,400 Speaker 1: in the Arctic on a hunting and science expedition. It 625 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:21,400 Speaker 1: anchored near New Iceland. Some of the group went ashore. 626 00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:26,720 Speaker 1: While exploring the island, they made a discovery. They'd found 627 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:31,520 Speaker 1: a body. Andrea's body, what was left of his skeleton, 628 00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:35,200 Speaker 1: was sitting up against a rock ledge. He had on 629 00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:40,200 Speaker 1: layers and layers of clothes, His rifle was nearby. He 630 00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:45,520 Speaker 1: even had cartridges in his pocket. Most importantly, there was 631 00:43:45,719 --> 00:43:50,760 Speaker 1: his journal, the evidence of their trip of everything they accomplished. 632 00:43:51,239 --> 00:43:54,839 Speaker 1: Andrea had carefully wrapped it in a sweater and a 633 00:43:54,840 --> 00:44:00,000 Speaker 1: piece of balloon cloth to protect it from the elements. 634 00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,760 Speaker 1: The remains of the other two men were also found. 635 00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:08,719 Speaker 1: Knute Frankel was inside the tent. Neil Strenberg's body had 636 00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:13,800 Speaker 1: been buried in a shallow grave covered with stones. Canisters 637 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:18,960 Speaker 1: and canisters of his undeveloped film preserved by the cold 638 00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:24,680 Speaker 1: were discovered among the men's possessions, more documentation of their 639 00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:28,840 Speaker 1: journey across the ice. What was left of their bodies, 640 00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:33,480 Speaker 1: their camp, their equipment was carefully packed up onto boats. 641 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:37,920 Speaker 1: It took thirty three years, but the men were finally 642 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:45,880 Speaker 1: coming home. It's not clear how or why the men died. 643 00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:50,560 Speaker 1: They still had plenty of food and their stove still worked, 644 00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:55,319 Speaker 1: but based on when the diary entries end, it must 645 00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:59,600 Speaker 1: have been only days after arriving on the island. Over 646 00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:03,440 Speaker 1: the past last century, there have been many theories proposed, 647 00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:09,600 Speaker 1: from parasites to bachelism, to polar bears to hypothermia. There's 648 00:45:09,719 --> 00:45:14,880 Speaker 1: no definitive answer we still don't know what happened to Salomon, 649 00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:20,560 Speaker 1: August Andre, Nils Strindberg and Knute Frankel in October eighteen 650 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:24,440 Speaker 1: ninety seven, Today, more than one hundred and twenty five 651 00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:29,080 Speaker 1: years after the eagle flew for the first and last time. 652 00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:34,680 Speaker 1: It's easy to criticize the choices Andre made, like continuing 653 00:45:34,800 --> 00:45:38,600 Speaker 1: on after the early loss of the guide ropes. But 654 00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:43,600 Speaker 1: as the explorer in Bancroft reminds us, decisions like that 655 00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:45,800 Speaker 1: are never so simple. 656 00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:50,000 Speaker 9: There's a tremendous amount at stake. There's a lot of pressure. 657 00:45:50,239 --> 00:45:53,200 Speaker 9: It doesn't matter if you're in the eighteen hundred or 658 00:45:53,239 --> 00:45:58,160 Speaker 9: the twentieth century, the twenty birth century. In those older expeditions, 659 00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:01,920 Speaker 9: you know there was country at stake. In other words, 660 00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:05,000 Speaker 9: it's very hard to know when the right moment is 661 00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:09,640 Speaker 9: to back out. It can be very painful because you 662 00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:13,759 Speaker 9: don't have very many opportunities to raise the funds. And 663 00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:19,560 Speaker 9: in his case, this was not an uncomplicated venture into 664 00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:25,720 Speaker 9: a landscape that is relatively unknown, and it's very easy 665 00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:29,960 Speaker 9: to sit back, maybe criticize, or just even analyze. I'll 666 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:34,240 Speaker 9: just be more gentle because we are trying to learn 667 00:46:34,600 --> 00:46:36,320 Speaker 9: and understand the story. 668 00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:42,799 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty six, the famed Norwegian explorer Rolled Amensen 669 00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:47,279 Speaker 1: flew over the North Pole in a hydrogen dridgable. He 670 00:46:47,480 --> 00:46:51,040 Speaker 1: and the crew became the first people to cross the 671 00:46:51,160 --> 00:46:56,600 Speaker 1: Arctic Ocean and the first to indisputably see the North Pole. 672 00:46:57,280 --> 00:47:01,280 Speaker 1: To do it, they used something very similar to a balloon, 673 00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:07,120 Speaker 1: which means in the end, Andre's idea was valid, even 674 00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:09,960 Speaker 1: if it did ultimately lead to his death. 675 00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:20,160 Speaker 2: He was risking his life for an idea, the radical 676 00:47:20,200 --> 00:47:23,560 Speaker 2: idea of how this unknown part of the world could 677 00:47:23,560 --> 00:47:26,760 Speaker 2: be visited. So he can't be dismissed. He's the hinge 678 00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:30,520 Speaker 2: figure that said there is a new and serious way 679 00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:35,560 Speaker 2: to approach Arctic exploration. I still admire and I still 680 00:47:35,560 --> 00:47:37,560 Speaker 2: think it was an extraordinary accomplishment. 681 00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:41,440 Speaker 5: The exhibition that we had at the Blue Museum in Albuquerque, 682 00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:46,800 Speaker 5: the original title was going to be the Doomed Flight 683 00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:51,600 Speaker 5: of sa Andre, and I don't think it was doomed. 684 00:47:52,120 --> 00:47:56,400 Speaker 5: I really don't. I think he still wanted to prove 685 00:47:57,080 --> 00:48:00,600 Speaker 5: some of the ideas that he had, but a balloon 686 00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:03,880 Speaker 5: was really the way that we were going to reach 687 00:48:03,960 --> 00:48:09,640 Speaker 5: the North Pole. People malign Andrea because he tried to 688 00:48:09,719 --> 00:48:14,120 Speaker 5: do something, and we keep trying to do something. We 689 00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:17,120 Speaker 5: try to go to the moon, or we try to 690 00:48:17,120 --> 00:48:20,680 Speaker 5: go to Mars. Man always wants to try to do 691 00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:25,879 Speaker 5: more and explore more and discover more. And I mean, 692 00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:29,120 Speaker 5: I think that's kind of the way we're made up. 693 00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:32,040 Speaker 5: And I think that's what Andrea was trying to do. 694 00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:38,040 Speaker 1: As an explorer. Anne Bancroft sees Andrea in herself and 695 00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:41,440 Speaker 1: in the connective tissue of anyone who's dreamed of doing 696 00:48:41,480 --> 00:48:43,240 Speaker 1: something that's never been done. 697 00:48:43,600 --> 00:48:47,640 Speaker 9: I think Andrea's legacy is perhaps a little bit woven 698 00:48:47,680 --> 00:48:50,240 Speaker 9: into all of our legacies. What is that I always 699 00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:53,920 Speaker 9: grapple with that with myself. You know, what made him pick? 700 00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:59,719 Speaker 9: What made him be so curious and ambitious, really ambitious 701 00:49:00,360 --> 00:49:03,359 Speaker 9: to take on what he took on that persistence. I 702 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:07,400 Speaker 9: think those qualities of Andrea is the thing that lures 703 00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:11,520 Speaker 9: me in more so than the actual endeavor, because I 704 00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:15,480 Speaker 9: try and be quite careful about my critiques. I'm not 705 00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:19,480 Speaker 9: a historian, and I just think the human spirit to 706 00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:23,319 Speaker 9: quest and go forward and go out of truly in 707 00:49:23,360 --> 00:49:28,160 Speaker 9: this case comfort zone is really a fascinating element. You know, 708 00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:31,960 Speaker 9: what drives us to want to go find that North pole. 709 00:49:32,520 --> 00:49:33,600 Speaker 5: You know, balloon. 710 00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:37,399 Speaker 9: Or on the back of a dog's lid. 711 00:49:41,280 --> 00:49:44,799 Speaker 4: All Right, that was a lot, yeah, emotional voyage. It's 712 00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:48,080 Speaker 4: very important to me that anyone who listened to this 713 00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:51,800 Speaker 4: episode go look up the photos that we're talking about 714 00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:55,239 Speaker 4: in there that were developed thirty three years later. That 715 00:49:55,360 --> 00:49:58,120 Speaker 4: was our kind of our entry point into finding the story. 716 00:49:58,280 --> 00:50:00,640 Speaker 4: And it's just shocking. I mean, he kind of like 717 00:50:00,719 --> 00:50:03,759 Speaker 4: found film is interesting, but these guys vanished off the 718 00:50:03,800 --> 00:50:06,240 Speaker 4: face of the earth and then we're able to retrace 719 00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:09,080 Speaker 4: not only but through their diaries. Makes this a very 720 00:50:09,239 --> 00:50:10,080 Speaker 4: very special one. 721 00:50:10,120 --> 00:50:13,480 Speaker 1: And I love the mini hoax in this episode that 722 00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:18,000 Speaker 1: there were fake bird messages that people allegedly received from 723 00:50:18,040 --> 00:50:22,319 Speaker 1: this failed expedition that turned out to be completely fabricated. 724 00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:24,320 Speaker 3: And also, I mean, going back to the photos, I 725 00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:27,240 Speaker 3: love the image of the eagle the balloon on the ice, 726 00:50:27,400 --> 00:50:29,360 Speaker 3: like just sitting there. Then the guy uses it for 727 00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:31,879 Speaker 3: the cover of his book, the Ice Balloon. And by 728 00:50:31,920 --> 00:50:34,200 Speaker 3: the way, what a great band name that would be, 729 00:50:34,320 --> 00:50:37,640 Speaker 3: the Ice Balloon. Right, It's like feather hamor it's just 730 00:50:37,640 --> 00:50:40,480 Speaker 3: incongruous and memorable. You're just like the ice Balloon. I'm 731 00:50:40,480 --> 00:50:42,680 Speaker 3: gonna see Ice Balloon on Saturday, you want to come. 732 00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:46,840 Speaker 4: That's good. I wrote down one other possible band name here, 733 00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:50,800 Speaker 4: not nearly as cool, different kind of style, but Swedish 734 00:50:50,800 --> 00:50:54,200 Speaker 4: Patent Office. Yes, I thought maybe i'd wear a T 735 00:50:54,360 --> 00:50:55,600 Speaker 4: shirt with their logo. 736 00:50:55,760 --> 00:50:57,520 Speaker 1: Swedish Patent Office. 737 00:50:57,760 --> 00:51:01,239 Speaker 3: Yeah, I can totally see the font. It's perfect that 738 00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:04,960 Speaker 3: this one was very cinematic, like this one definitely had casting, 739 00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:06,919 Speaker 3: and I kind of went off and like, I even 740 00:51:06,960 --> 00:51:10,439 Speaker 3: cast Anne Bancroft, like I really had fun with this, right. 741 00:51:10,560 --> 00:51:13,680 Speaker 3: So for Solomon august Andre sa Andre, I was thinking 742 00:51:13,920 --> 00:51:17,000 Speaker 3: Alexander Scarsguard. He just has the right energy. 743 00:51:16,800 --> 00:51:20,200 Speaker 1: Right, Yes, he's Nordick, Yeah, totally. 744 00:51:20,239 --> 00:51:22,960 Speaker 3: And then I thought, for Nile Strindberg, you could do 745 00:51:23,040 --> 00:51:25,080 Speaker 3: his brother Bill Bill scars Guard, So that way you 746 00:51:25,160 --> 00:51:27,480 Speaker 3: kind of get like a Casey Affleck Ben Affleck thing, like, oh, 747 00:51:27,480 --> 00:51:30,120 Speaker 3: they're in the movie together, how cute. For Canut Frankel, 748 00:51:30,160 --> 00:51:33,239 Speaker 3: I was thinking alex hawk Anderson, he played Ivar the 749 00:51:33,280 --> 00:51:36,800 Speaker 3: Boneless in the TV show Vikings, and I thought, once again, Nordick, 750 00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:40,120 Speaker 3: he'd be really solid. Now for Alfred Nobel, I thought 751 00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:43,680 Speaker 3: Jared Harris from Chernobyl, Right, wouldn't that be fun? He 752 00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:45,799 Speaker 3: kind of has like a nineteenth century energy to him. 753 00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:48,480 Speaker 1: He played King George the sixth. I believe it's crown 754 00:51:48,600 --> 00:51:50,720 Speaker 1: if I remember, he has that vibe. 755 00:51:50,800 --> 00:51:53,920 Speaker 3: Yes, totally very regal. Cat And for King Oscar the 756 00:51:53,960 --> 00:51:58,040 Speaker 3: Second of Sweden, I was thinking Alexander Ludwig Bjorn Ironsides 757 00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:00,759 Speaker 3: from Vikings, so I doubled up on Viking. And then 758 00:52:00,840 --> 00:52:04,160 Speaker 3: for Anne Bancroft the Explorer, I thought Emily Cox. She 759 00:52:04,280 --> 00:52:06,840 Speaker 3: played Brita in the Last Kingdom. If you watch that 760 00:52:06,960 --> 00:52:10,160 Speaker 3: Netflix series, she's the badass and from that one, so 761 00:52:10,239 --> 00:52:12,160 Speaker 3: I thought, we got a bunch of Nordic types and 762 00:52:12,200 --> 00:52:13,520 Speaker 3: a badass. So there we go. 763 00:52:13,680 --> 00:52:14,160 Speaker 1: I love it. 764 00:52:14,239 --> 00:52:16,840 Speaker 4: If we go the animated film route, I would like 765 00:52:16,880 --> 00:52:21,280 Speaker 4: to nominate our voice actors from this film, Tom Anton, Ellis, 766 00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:25,560 Speaker 4: Chris Childs, Josh Fisher right here. Heck yeah, I don't 767 00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:28,560 Speaker 4: know if you have a sagcard, but maybe we can 768 00:52:28,719 --> 00:52:29,520 Speaker 4: talk to somebody. 769 00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:30,400 Speaker 3: He's got the pipes. 770 00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:36,120 Speaker 4: Great work there. Very Special Episodes is made by some 771 00:52:36,239 --> 00:52:39,320 Speaker 4: very special people. This show is hosted by Danis Schwartz, 772 00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:42,920 Speaker 4: Zaren Burnett, and Jason English. Today's episode was written by 773 00:52:42,960 --> 00:52:47,360 Speaker 4: Mac Montanden and Marisa Brown, our senior producer is Josh Fisher. 774 00:52:47,680 --> 00:52:51,680 Speaker 4: Our story editor is Marisa Brown. Editing and sound design 775 00:52:51,800 --> 00:52:56,080 Speaker 4: by Chris Childs. Additional editing by Mary Dooke, Mixing and 776 00:52:56,120 --> 00:53:00,600 Speaker 4: mastering by Beheed Fraser. Original music by Alise McCoy. Research 777 00:53:00,640 --> 00:53:04,279 Speaker 4: and fact checking by Marissa Brown and Austin Thompson. Show 778 00:53:04,320 --> 00:53:08,920 Speaker 4: logo by Lucy Quintonia. Social clips by Yarberry Media. Special 779 00:53:08,920 --> 00:53:12,200 Speaker 4: thanks to our voice actors Tom Antonellis, Chris Childs and 780 00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:15,200 Speaker 4: Josh Fisher. I am your executive producer and we will 781 00:53:15,200 --> 00:53:17,759 Speaker 4: see you back here next Wednesday. If you want to 782 00:53:17,800 --> 00:53:19,960 Speaker 4: email the show, you can always reach us at Very 783 00:53:20,040 --> 00:53:23,920 Speaker 4: Special Episodes at gmail dot com. Very Special Episodes is 784 00:53:23,960 --> 00:53:25,879 Speaker 4: a production of iHeart Podcasts.