About the mission - Ticket To Antarctica

Experience a journey of a lifetime with weekly updates from the ship as it sets sail from the UK in October 2024.

Together we’ll travel to Antarctica on the UK’s polar research ship. Journey into an icy world of icebergs, penguins and whales, and meet the scientists and teams who live and work in Antarctica.

Your name will be added to a time capsule that will travel with us to Rothera Research Station in Antarctica. You’ll receive a personalised digital ticket, and receive weekly interactive email updates packed with stories, photos and videos from the journey.

Are you ready?

All you need to do is sign up
for your Ticket to Antarctica.

Get your ticket

An aerial photo of a large red ship berthed up next to a snow-covered peninsula. There are bits of sea ice and icebergs in the water, and snow-covered mountains in the background. — © William Clark

RRS Sir David Attenborough at Rothera Research Station, Antarctica

What is the British Antarctic Survey?

We are scientists who study Earth’s frozen places: Antarctica and the Arctic!

British Antarctic Survey is the UK’s national polar research centre. That means we do the science, as well as running the UK’s five Antarctic research stations, five polar aircraft and our big red ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough.

Three orange pyramid tents in a snowy landscape, with a red plane landing in the background. — Scientists live and work in tents in the deep field

Marine biologists at Rothera Research Station

Four women wearing sunglasses and hats are sat on a boat, smiling. They are wearing orange boat suits and life jackets. There are snow covered mountains in the background. — Marine biologists at Rothera Research Station

Our job is to uncover the secrets of Earth’s poles. We do this by studying all the connected parts of our planet – from the depths of the oceans under the ice, to the inner edge of space.

The team at British Antarctic Survey has been living and working in the extremes of Antarctica and the Arctic for over 60 years. Our scientists have found important evidence about climate change hidden in ancient Antarctic ice, and discovered the hole in Earth’s ozone layer.

Today, we’re uncovering how fragile these frozen environments are in our changing world. We want to find out what changes in Antarctica and the Arctic could mean for people and animals living around the globe.

Antarctica is one of the most extraordinary places I’ve ever been to.
Sir David Attenborough

BAS has 4 x Twin Otter aircraft that deploy people into the deep field

A man in a blue jumper, cream dungarees, a hat and gloves stands with his hands in the air, in front of a red plane landing on snow.

Two people on a boat. The man on the left is wearing a boat suit and life jacket and is checking the diving equipment of the person on the left who is wearing a drysuit and scuba diving gear, There are icebergs in the background.

Steve Gibbs

Divers at Rothera Research Station, Antarctica

Meet RRS Sir David Attenborough

Say hello to our big red ship! The Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough is the UK’s state-of-the-art floating polar science platform. The ship is ice-strengthened, which means it is designed to be able to break a path through sea ice when it travels to the Earth’s coldest places.

The ship is home to 30 crew and 60 scientists, laboratory managers, engineers and technicians.

A large red ship sails through water covered in large and small pieces of sea ice. — © Jamie Anderson

RRS Sir David Attenborough in sea ice

The ship in numbers

Name

RRS David Attenborough

Length

129m

(approx. 5 x the length of a tennis court)

Weight

15,000 tonnes

(around the same weight as 75 blue whales)

Endurance

60 days at sea

Range

19,000NM
at 13 knots

Logistics

6 x impressive cranes

Work Boats

2 x small boats – Erebus and Terror

Science

1 x moonpool

(4x4m hole through the middle of the ship, for launching scientific instruments in rough weather)

Icebreaking Capability

Up to 1m thick

Did you know?

The ship has a range of 19,000 nautical miles at 13 knots – more than enough for a return trip from the UK to Rothera Research Station, or to circle the entire Antarctic continent twice!

Find out more about the recent research expedition the ship had in Greenland this summer.