Dale Andersen’s Astrobiology Antarctic Status Report: 12 January 2026: Overland Traverse Imagery – And Hello ISS

Keith’s note: Dale Andersen and his astrobiology research team departed the Ultima ice airstrip where they arrived the other day – and drove their snowmobiles south to their research base location at Lake Untersee.

I posted some slightly blurry pics yesterday but now that they have their Starlink up and operational, there’s more imagery and a video to show you.

Oh yes – Dale Andersen is holding a International Space Station Crew 11 patch. His friend and fellow biologist, astronaut Zena Cardman, have worked together and had planned an antarctica/space conversation – but the crew’s early return cancelled that.

But first: why do they go to this remote location year after year? According to Dale: “Lake Untersee is a difficult place to live and work. But we are seeking new knowledge. Knowledge that will inform us about Earth’s past history and help us understand its future. Our research also helps guide the search for evidence of life on other distant worlds such as Mars or the outer moons of Jupiter or Saturn … or beyond.”

Here are some of the pics sent from Lake Untersee Base Camp via Starlink.

Keith’s note: Astrobiologist Dale Andersen is heading back in Antarctica at Lake Untersee in January-February 2026 for another field season of research.

Dale and I have been proving research updates – from Antarctica – since 1996. We think we actually had the first webserver (located in my old condo) updated from Antarctica. More details here: Dale Andersen’s 1996 Antarctic Field Research Photo Albums