Earhart Expedition Nears Nikumaroro After Sailing 370 of 830 Nautical Miles
Updated
Updated · Purdue University · Oct 9
Earhart Expedition Nears Nikumaroro After Sailing 370 of 830 Nautical Miles
3 articles · Updated · Purdue University · Oct 9
Summary
The Taraia Object expedition team is nearing the halfway point to Nikumaroro and is tentatively due to arrive around midday Monday, Oct. 12 local time.
Aboard the Kiribati vessel Marin Mainiku, the crew has covered about 370 nautical miles at an average 7 knots, with calm seas and favorable winds aiding the crossing.
At Nikumaroro, the team plans a drone survey before moving equipment through the reef and splitting into two groups to open a jungle route and reach the lagoon staging area.
Rick Pettigrew said remote sensing with magnetometers and sonar will precede any excavation, with a hydraulic dredge to uncover the Taraia Object if the scans warrant it.
The mission, backed by the Archaeological Legacy Institute, Purdue Research Foundation and Purdue University, aims to test whether an anomaly seen in 2020 satellite imagery and 1938 aerial photos could help explain Earhart’s 1937 disappearance.