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Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
Though planes with landing skis can fly to the South Pole, it's far more fuel-efficient for tractors to cross the Texas-size area, alongside the Transantarctic Mountains, to resupply scientists working there.

It took 88 days for the most recent roundtrip trek, including time spent unloading at the South Pole and detecting crevasses in some especially dangerous terrain called the "shear zone."

That's an excruciating pace, though it goes faster on the mostly downhill return side of the trip.

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Last updated November 03 2009: 9:20 AM ET
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