Contrasts at the end 01. September 2025 Today we leave Polarstern with mixed feelings – both smiles and tears. Our mission was a great success. We came here determined to work together in the best possible [...] 2025 Over the course of this expedition, we traveled about 4,850 nautical miles (8,730 km) with Polarstern, spent 70 hours flying with the helicopter, and devoted 35 days to our ice stations. Yet just as [...] of the great benefit of the sea ice and the distance from the ice edge: there is no swell, and Polarstern lies calm and steady in the water. This allows us to complete our last tasks in peace and, above