RSS Sir David Attenborough kept a cool head in Antarctica tests

Image source, BAS

Image caption, The huge red vessel has been making its way through the icy seas of Antarctica

You might have heard of trials by fire, but the Sir David Attenborough has just completed some trials in ice!

The new Royal Research Ship (RRS) named after the much loved nature programme presenter has been smashing through sheets of floating ice, called floes, to see how well it performs in the frosty Antarctic ocean.

It still has a final assessment to complete, but it's close now to being officially used by scientists to study the south pole.

Soon it will travel back to the UK for maintenance and repairs, but for the time being it's continuing to work around Antarctica.

Image source, Jamie Anderson/BAS

Image caption, The BAS says the vessel contains "state-of-the-art facilities to research the oceans, seafloor, ice and atmosphere"

The trials involved pushing the ship through floes at various power levels.

The boat also had to perform a range of manoeuvres, including reversing, turning, as well doing impact tests at different speeds - essentially bashing into the ice slowly, then speeding up!

Prof Dame Jane Francis, the director of British Antarctic Survey (BAS), said she was delighted with the ship's performance in the ice.

"It's been quite special to see the stunning footage of our big red ship surrounded by snow and ice for the first time. It is something we have all imagined, right from our initial conversations about the ship, and so it's a very poignant moment to finally see it in the ice."

Image source, Jamie Anderson/BAS

Image caption, It performed well according to scientists at the BAS, but it still has some more tests to do

The polar vessel cost 拢200 million to build. Its name was originally put to a public vote, where the overwhelming winner was Boaty McBoatface. However, the science minister at the time, Jo Johnson, said that there were "more suitable names" to choose from, and instead opted for the Sir David Attenborough.

But all was not lost for Boaty McBoatface - one of its remotely operated sub-sea vehicles was given the name in honour of the public vote.