Snow Cruiser – The Biggest Flop in Antarctic Research
The Snow Cruiser was a gigantic snow vehicle built to explore Antarctica. It was intended to serve not only as a means of transport, but also as a mobile research station with integrated living and working quarters for its crew. Mounted on the roof was a small aircraft that could be launched when needed to broaden the scope of exploration.
The project was led by Dr. Thomas C. Poulter and Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, but it ended in spectacular failure. In practice, the Snow Cruiser was unable to overcome even the smallest snowdrifts. The designers had simply not been able to adequately simulate Antarctic conditions in the United States. Ultimately, the Snow Cruiser was abandoned.
Development History
On April 29, 1939, Poulter and the Research Foundation of the Armor Institute of Technology presented their plans to officials in Washington, D.C. The Research Foundation agreed to finance the project, oversee construction, and loan the vehicle to the United States Antarctic Service. Construction began on August 8, 1939, and was completed in just eleven weeks. On October 24, 1939, the vehicle was started for the first time at the Pullman Company south of Chicago and set off on a 1,640-kilometer journey to the Boston Army Wharf. During the trip, a damaged steering system caused the vehicle to veer off a small bridge on the Lincoln Highway into a creek, where it remained stuck for three days. After arriving in Boston, the Snow Cruiser was loaded onto the ship North Star and departed for Antarctica on November 15, 1939.
On January 12, 1940, the North Star reached the American research station Little America at the Bay of Whales. A wooden ramp had to be constructed to unload the vehicle. The crew cheered as Poulter drove the Snow Cruiser down the ramp. However, the vehicle’s enormous weight had been underestimated. One of the wheels broke through the ramp, and the celebration quickly ended when it became apparent that the Snow Cruiser could not move across the snow and ice. Its smooth, treadless tires provided almost no grip and spun helplessly.
Another requirement was that the vehicle should be able to cross crevasses up to five meters wide. The Snow Cruiser failed in this respect as well. It sank into the snow and struggled to start even on very slight inclines. Several modifications were attempted, including mounting the two spare tires on the front axle and fitting chains to the rear wheels. These measures did not solve the traction problem. The crew later discovered that the tires generated better traction when driving in reverse. The Snow Cruiser’s longest journey covered 148 kilometers, and the entire distance was driven backward.
On January 24, 1940, Poulter returned to the United States and left F. Alton Wade in charge of a reduced crew. The Snow Cruiser was then converted into a stationary research facility. Scientists conducted seismological experiments, cosmic radiation measurements, and ice core sampling while living inside the snow-covered vehicle. Funding for the project was eventually cut as U.S. priorities shifted toward World War II. The Snow Cruiser was abandoned and left behind in Antarctica.
Rediscovery and Final Fate
During Operation Highjump in late 1946, an expedition team located the Snow Cruiser and found that it required only air in the tires and some maintenance to become operational again.
In 1958, an international expedition rediscovered the vehicle with a bulldozer. It was buried under several meters of snow, but a tall bamboo pole still marked its location. The team excavated it down to the wheels and used the site to measure snowfall accumulation since its abandonment.
Inside, the vehicle was exactly as the crew had left it, with papers, magazines, and cigarettes scattered throughout.
Later expeditions reported no trace of the Snow Cruiser.
Although there has been speculation that the Soviet Union may have recovered it during the Cold War, there is no evidence to support this theory. Nearly 80 years later, the fate of the Snow Cruiser remains unknown. It may still lie buried beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, or it may have broken away on an ice shelf and sunk to the ocean floor.
Soviet Tracked Vehicle
Beginning in the 1950s, Soviet Antarctic expeditions used the Kharkovchanka, a vehicle similar in concept to the Snow Cruiser. It was also designed for long-distance travel in Antarctica and incorporated living and working quarters. Unlike the Snow Cruiser, however, the Kharkovchanka was a much smaller tracked vehicle developed from a proven production chassis. Its use of tracks gave it significantly better mobility on snow and ice.
Heiner Kubny, PolarJournal
