Richard E. Byrd’s second trip to the Antarctic, 1935

This footage from the National Geographic Archives highlights the Society’s early role in feats of flight: National Geographic helped sponsor the first two of five major expeditions Richard E. Byrd led to the Antarctic. This second expedition from 1933 to 1935, footage from which we’ve included here, was scientifically a great success. In the 19 months they were on the ice, the expedition team mapped 450,000 square miles, named hundreds of new peaks in the Edsel Ford and Queen Maud ranges, made seismological soundings determining the depth of the ice sheet in many places, and collected data on oceanography, cosmic rays, meteorology, terrestrial magnetism, geophysics, and radio communications. WHO WE ARE The National Geographic Society is an impact-driven global nonprofit organization that pushes the boundaries of exploration, furthering understanding of our world and empowering us all to generate solutions for a healthy, more sustainable future for generations to come. Our ultimate vision: a