Ny-Ålesund
Ny-Ålesund
(nü'-ô`ləso͝on) [New Alesund], town, on Kongsfjorden, NW Spitsbergen island, Svalbard, Norway. Established as a coal-mining settlement, it is now a largely seasonal scientific research center. Ny-Ålesund was (1926) the base of polar flights by Richard ByrdByrd, Richard Evelyn,1888–1957, American aviator and polar explorer, b. Winchester, Va. He took up aviation in 1917, and after World War I he gained great fame in the air. He commanded the naval air unit with the arctic expedition of D. B. MacMillan in 1925.
..... Click the link for more information. , in an airplane, and by Roald AmundsenAmundsen, Roald
(Roald Engelbregt Grauning Amundsen) , 1872–1928, Norwegian polar explorer; the first person to reach the South Pole. He served (1897–99) as first mate on the Belgica
..... Click the link for more information. , who, with Lincoln EllsworthEllsworth, Lincoln,
1880–1951, American explorer, b. Chicago, Ill. He was a surveyor and engineer in railroad building and later a prospector and mining engineer in NW Canada. He became the financial supporter and associate of Roald Amundsen in his arctic aviation ventures.
..... Click the link for more information. and Umberto NobileNobile, Umberto
, 1885–1978, Italian aeronautical engineer and arctic explorer. He designed the dirigible Norge and piloted it in the Amundsen-Ellsworth flight over the North Pole in 1926.
..... Click the link for more information. , flew from there to Alaska in the dirigible Norge.