Iridium Satellite LLC recently provided global satellite communications equipment and services for a benefit drive around the world to help keep the nine volunteers that took part in the effort to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research.

The drive, dubbed the Longitude Expedition because the route traveled followed lines of longitude, began in November 2003 and was expected to take nine months to complete. However, bureaucratic, weather, shipping and other delays kept volunteers on the road for 16 months. The route took them 32,000 miles through 34 countries. And throughout the trip, Iridium services kept the volunteers connected.

Nick Baggarly told Satellite News that the trip, the goal of which was to raise awareness of and put a face on Parkinson’s disease “could not have been done without Iridium.”

Baggarly said he and his team used the Iridium phones every day for a variety of reasons. To help maintain group morale, they used the Iridium phones to keep in touch with friends and family. But the Iridium service also allowed the group to update a Web-based journal on a daily basis. The volunteers also fielded questions from folks around the world who would e-mail questions in.

“The Iridium phones provided a vital link in keeping in touch with our families, friends and the media,” Baggarly told Satellite News.

The service kept the volunteers in touch while they traveled through a variety of extreme locations, ranging from the highest altitude of 18,640 while crossing the Khardung La Pass in Leh, India, to the lowest altitude of -505 feet in Turpan, China; and from the northern most latitude on the journey, crossing the Arctic Circle in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska at 70 degrees 19′ North Latitude and the southern-most portion of the trip at 54 degrees 58′ South Latitude 100 kilometers southeast of Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina. The volunteers also faced extremes in terms of temperature on their journey, ranging from 128 degrees F in the Mojave Desert in California, and -58 degrees F in Yakutka, Russia.

The expedition thus far has raised $75,000 for Parkinson’s disease research. Visitors to the Web site http://www.drivearoundtheworld.com can read about the trip.

(Nick Baggarly, Longitude Expedition, 408/355-5544)