Dale Andersen’s team builds Lake Untersee camp as storm nears

Astrobiologist Dale Andersen reported on November 7, 2026, that his team at Lake Untersee in Antarctica is constructing research base infrastructure and treating safety as the top priority. He warned that a storm with 60-knot winds is expected to reach the site on Tuesday.

Tents and gear at the camp are arranged to match prevailing winds and reduce facility damage. A small Ambient WS-4000 weather station near the site shares current conditions in real time when it is online. Keith’s note says more pictures of the layout will appear in the coming days.

Gemini’s seven-day outlook for November 7 through 14, 2026, calls for cold, sub-zero spring weather typical of Queen Maud Land. Thursday, November 12, 2026, is forecast to reach -40°F (-40°C) at the high and -62°F (-52°C) at the low, with wind chill down to -85°F. Snow is expected on Friday and Saturday, November 13 and 14, 2026, with a 52% precipitation chance on Friday.

The SETI Institute coordinates the January-February 2026 field season at Lake Untersee through its Carl Sagan Center. The international group includes graduate students and scientists from the United States, Canada, and Austria, led by Andersen.

The team arrived in Cape Town during the first days of January 2026 and departed for Antarctica around 6 January. Andersen flew aboard an IL-76TD jet seen just before departure, landing at Novolazarevskaya Station’s ice-runway after a 5-6 hr flight from Cape Town, South Africa.

Before heading inland, the team spent a couple of days at Ultima Antarctic Logistics’ airbase sorting polar clothing, staging gear, packing cargo sleds, checking snowmobiles, and confirming communications, check-in schedules, and emergency procedures. Novo Airbase, at roughly 70.823° S, 11.641° E, serves as the starting point for the overland convoy. The traverse begins once gear is staged, snowmobiles have been test-driven, and weather allows.

The overland route targets Lake Untersee at 71.342° S, 13.473° E, an isolated oasis in the mountains of Queen Maud Land. On arrival, the team plans to spend its first couple of days erecting shelters, raising tents, and preparing for high winds or bad weather. Research starts after camp construction finishes and the team settles in.

Starlink is a high priority because it enables routine safety check-ins with Ultima at least twice daily, along with weather updates, messages, and a dependable link back to the rest of the world. “Getting the Starlink up and running is high on the priority list,” Andersen said.

Cyanobacterial mats grow undisturbed beneath Lake Untersee’s thick perennial ice cover much as they did billions of years ago. The organisms harness sunlight, split water to release electrons and hydrogen, and combine those with carbon dioxide to form complex organic molecules. Oxygen released over eons changed Earth into a world able to sustain complex, multicellular life.

Knowledge from Lake Untersee will inform understanding of Earth’s past and future and guide the search for signs of life on Mars and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. The work also connects directly to the off-world exploration Artemis crews will conduct on the Moon and beyond.

Life and work at Lake Untersee are difficult. Darkness lasts for four months, accompanied by cracking ice and howling winds, and weather can bring winds and blinding snow reaching 110 mph. Soaring, pinnacled peaks around the lake block the surrounding continental ice, while the Anuchin Glacier flows gently from the north to the lake’s edge.

Nearby on the ice, the research stations at Schirmacher Oasis include Maitri, managed by India’s National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, and Novolazarevskaya, operated by the Russian Antarctic Expedition. Andersen and Keith met in 1987 at the former NASA Headquarters life science division and have collaborated on research reporting since then. Both hold Fellow Member status in The Explorers Club, which honored Andersen with the Finn Ronne Memorial Award earlier in 2026.

Reports from Andersen’s earlier Antarctic field seasons go back to 1996. He created a short film titled Whispers Beneath the Ice: Discovering the Hidden Life of Lake Untersee, which shows the place and hints at discoveries ahead. Andersen will send more updates once the team is on the ice at Lake Untersee.

Regional conditions and datasets for Lake Untersee can be tracked through the NSIDC Lake Untersee Climate Data Catalog, with general updates available on Astrobiology.com. The site also carries status reports and related articles for this and earlier seasons under Dale Andersen‘s Field Reports.