First module of Belarusian station in Antarctica in November 2014

The first module of the Belarusian Antarctic station will be delivered to Antarctica in November 2014, BelTA learned from Alexei Gaidashov, Deputy Head of the National Center for Polar Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, head of the Belarusian Antarctic expedition.

The Belarusian station will comprise several modules made in Belarus. The first one is supposed to be delivered in November 2014. The station will be a compact one and the modules will not require capital construction, said Alexei Gaidashov.

The first module will be delivered from the board of the ship to the Antarctic shore by a helicopter. One module will be as large as a 20-foot shipping container. The station will be made of several units like that.

The station will boast climate control, autonomous power supply in every module, systems for communication between modules without going outside, and external sockets to connect the primary diesel generators. Navigation systems and communication systems will be installed as well.

During the station’s construction the facility’s impact on the Antarctic environment will continue to be assessed. The environmental impact assessment has been prepared by the Nature Management Institute and the Research and Practice Center for Bioresources. The report was presented at a consultative conference of the countries parties to the agreement on Antarctica. “All the remarks concerning the project have been taken into account. Only formalities are now left to handle. For 120 days after the consultative conference we will have the right to start organizing the Belarusian Antarctic station,” added Alexei Gaidashov.

Belarusian polar explorers have had the first opportunity to work at the Russian Antarctic station Progress this year. The station was commissioned several years ago. It boasts modern life support systems, including an excellent medical center. It also boats satellite television and Internet access, noted Alexei Gaidashov. “During previous expeditions we carried out our research at the polar base Evening Mountain that lacked all of it. Among other things it lacked a medic and a technical specialist. Therefore, we had to take care of all the matters concerning life support”. The scientist stressed that they had to spend 50-70% of the time on life support organization. “The situation was completely different when we were working at the Progress station. Most of the work time was used for research and therefore our performance improved,” stressed the head of the expedition.

The sixth Belarusian Antarctic expedition lasted for about six months. During the time Belarusian polar explorers carried out biological, ozonometric, geophysical, meteorological observations and other ones. Among other things they tested a solution meant to cleanse the environment from oil products.

The next expedition will head out to Antarctica in late October – early November 2014 to return in April-May 2015.