Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, who has seldom shunned the spectacular, made an ear-jarring proposal last week. He suggested dropping an atomic bomb to crack the more than 1,800-ft.-thick Antarctic polar icecap. Thus, the U.S. might gain access to the copper, iron, gold, coal and other minerals reported hidden below.
First step in the Rickenbacker plan: a photographic and radar survey of the 5,000,000-square-mile Antarctic continent. From Tierra del Fuego, Tasmania and South Africa, long-range bombers would make three wide sweeps across the polar area, flying distances up to 6,500 miles. Weather, rescue and emergency...
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