# ‘A dream experiment’: our Australian icebreaker is on a crucial mission to Antarctica

As I write, Australia’s national icebreaker, RSV Nuyina, is steaming south-west from Hobart, heading to Antarctica on its first dedicated marine science voyage.

Onboard are more than 60 scientists and technicians, many on their first research cruise, gingerly gaining their sea legs as the ship navigates multimetre swells and swirling Southern Ocean lows.

After a week or so of travel, they’ll push through the sea ice and arrive at their destination for the next 50 days: the remote Denman Glacier ice shelf system in East Antarctica, about 5,000 kilometres south of Australia.

As the planet warms, this is a newly emerging region of concern for Antarctica’s contribution to sea-level rise, making this mission crucial for Australia’s future and the welfare of the global community.

The 110-kilometre-long Denman Glacier is a vast river of ice draining the East Antarctic ice sheet. It sits on the seafloor in a canyon about 3.5 kilometres below the surface.

The only way to get information like this is to be there.

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