Russia's research bases in Antarctica

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.

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

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.

Scorpius wrote: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 hear you, it's all good

Trust me, nobody wants to see this thing completed more than me, it's glorious to behold

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.

They already dragged a crane over there?

Holy shit, how?

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.



https://bmpd.livejournal.com/4667308.html

This photo is a few months old, but there have been no updates for a long time. Three out of five modules have been assembled at the Vostok Antarctic station at the new wintering complex. Commissioning is planned in 2025.
Bonus video:


To start construction, it took 19 flights from the coast of Antarctica, in total more than 3,100 tons of building structures were delivered, 96 people are working under construction.

Makes it pretty clear why they need a new base really... thanks for posting.

GarryB wrote:Makes it pretty clear why they need a new base really... thanks for posting.

Thanks should be expressed to the people who filmed it, I just brought a link)
I hope this will help to understand how unique this operation is, and that no one has done anything like this for decades.

Dated november 2023

Putin and Lukashenko attended the ceremony of commissioning a new winter complex at the Vostok Antarctic station in an online format today.

At the most southern (polar) Antarctic station they get -80C temperatures in August (coldest month). They had -89C during the 1980s.

This is why having the complex being buried by compacted drift snow is a really good thing. Snow is a great insulator which the Inuit have
known for thousands of years. So I do not see the need for having a complex that ratchets itself to avoid burial. The drift snow does
not accumulate in an unbounded fashion progressing to a glacier.

Amazing

Where is the S-500 complex?
Zircon launchers?

This is why having the complex being buried by compacted drift snow is a really good thing. Snow is a great insulator which the Inuit have
known for thousands of years.

It is not just about survival, it is about doing science, and being able to work in 25 degrees C temperatures makes typing on computers and the use of electronics much easier and more reliable. Having it warm enough to run a humidifier stops it from being too dry and too static electricity prone... which is not good for a lot of scientific instruments.

When it has been racheted up as far as it can go they can always raise the piles and fill those holes with compacted ice and then replace the piles... do about 14 or 15 at a time and they will be done in a few years.

Cranes used at a construction site in Antarctica were assembled in Chelyabinsk.