First Antarctic flight - a balloon
Eva was the first of two balloons taken South in 1901 on the Discovery. It made the first ascent on February 4, 1902, carrying Robert Falcon Scott.
This was the first flight in Antarctica by any type of aircraft and reached a height of 250 metres. A second ascent was then made the same day, carrying Ernest Shackleton, who took the first ever Antarctic aerial photographs.
The location of these flights was a small bay in the Ross Ice Barrier, near the future location of the Bay of Whales. The second balloon of the expedition was never flown.
On March 29 of the same year the German South Pole Expedition made two ascents in their captive balloon, and also took aerial photographs.
These pioneer balloon flights gave a glimpse of what laid beyond the horizon of the Antarctic interior. However the problems of transporting large quantities of hydrogen south on small ships limited their use.
Further reading: History of Australian Antarctic aviation
