Russia's research bases in Antarctica

PapaDragon wrote:
Ah, so the entire package has been delivered to the continent but it will take 4 years to complete the whole thing on site

As we are at the end of 2021, and the station is supposed to be operational and host the first crew in 2024 - I would say less than 3 ;-)
Considering that you can work there only several months in a year when the temperature outside is calm, comfortable -30C only , I would say it is very fast.

Well, the Vostok station is literally the South Pole of inaccessibility - which means that any more remote and difficult territories can lie only outside our planet. This is the point where only two months of the year temperatures rise above -40 degrees Celsius. Damn, building a new research complex there is an operation not much easier than building a habitable base on the Moon, and are you unhappy that this process will take longer than you previously expected?

Just relax and watch the historical events. Roscosmos is also interested in this project - medical and biological experiments are planned there to prepare for the creation of habitable settlements on other planets.

PapaDragon wrote:

Scorpius wrote:and are you unhappy that this process will take longer than you previously expected?....

And when did I say that?

I noticed that entire thing is already delivered because previous news made it sound like it would take 4 years to deliver the base after Sevmorput got busted

Take it up with journalists if you have problems



This news also clears out previous argument about how components will be delivered, the will be doing it by land

Relax, man, I didn't attack you. It's just that sometimes I see that we need a little patience. If there is a choice between "do it quickly" and "do it without mistakes" - personally, I will choose the second way. I think we should all admit that shifting the construction of a base in Antarctica by 4 years is not the worst thing that can happen. Well, let's say, if we recall that the Vostok base underwent a previous major upgrade about 40 years ago, so...

As for journalists, they always distort information, because they need sensationalism.

I don't get why they are complaining about digging tunnels through packed drift snow. Once you make the tunnel it is easily warmed
(as the Inuit know) and it lasts for as long as there is no melt, which is there is none.

The new facility is supposed to use its hydraulic pillars to ratchet above the drift snow. This may be a useful feature if they need
exterior access (for the view?) but it is the upgrade in the accommodations that is the main benefit of the structure they shipped.

I don't get why they are complaining about digging tunnels through packed drift snow. Once you make the tunnel it is easily warmed
(as the Inuit know) and it lasts for as long as there is no melt, which is there is none.

That is probably the issue... most of these people are not used to living in a walk in freezer...

There is only so high a temperature you can heat the air in an ice cave before you start having problems.

Ironically one issue you can have in the arctic is the terrible dryness of the air... I guess melting walls would actually fix that... along with people breathing and of course any gas heaters you use to keep the place warm would add to the moisture and the CO.

Having insulated walls would make keeping the place heated would be much more efficient, not to mention some of the more specialist equipment they could have there in rooms not cut from ice.

It seems work has started for the new Wostok station.

I am guessing it all came over land, so it probably drove there.

PapaDragon wrote:
They already dragged a crane over there?

Holy shit, how?

Same as to all construction sites. Disassembled into pieces and assembled on construction site.

A contract was signed for the construction of the research expedition vessel "Ivan Frolov" project 23680

The ship, intended for the implementation of the Antarctic program of the Russian Federation, will be operated by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI). The delivery of the vessel is scheduled for December 2028. It is planned that the vessel "Ivan Frolov" will replace the current flagship of the polar fleet, the scientific expeditionary vessel (NES) "Akademik Fedorov" and will remain in service for at least 30 years.



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