Press releases

6 Jan 2017

Part of second structure of Belarusian Antarctic station assembled

MINSK, 6 January (BelTA) – Belarusian polar explorers have assembled part of the second structure of the Belarusian Antarctic station, BelTA learned from Sergei Usanov, Academician-Secretary of the Chemistry and Earth Sciences Department of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB), during the presentation of the Year of Science in Belarus on 6 January.

According to the source, the Belarusian polar explorers arrived in Antarctica on 29 December. About 40 tonnes of cargoes was transported to the Belarusian station at Mount Vechernyaya. Over the course of several days the polar explorers managed to assemble a platform and one of the sections of the second structure of the Belarusian Antarctic station.

The Belarusian polar explorers have started working on their own. A number of scientific researches are scheduled to take place in 2017. In particular, spectrum equipment of the Belarusian satellite BKA and the Russian satellite Canopus-B will undergo radiation calibration using the snow surface of Antarctica. The specialists will evaluate the possibility of using the local biological resources. The atmosphere and the surface of Antarctica will be monitored. Some climate-related researches will be done.

The current Belarusian Antarctic expedition began in the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in late October 2016. In early November about 40 tonnes of expedition cargoes, including parts of the second structure of the Belarusian Antarctic station, was shipped from Minsk to Saint Petersburg where it was loaded onto the Akademik Fedorov research vessel. In mid-November the personnel of the Belarusian Antarctic expedition started the journey to Antarctica. The expedition comprises six people.

The deployment of the Belarusian Antarctic station is part of a subprogram of the government program on new and high technologies and machines in 2016-2020. The subprogram provides for monitoring polar regions of the Earth, creating the Belarusian Antarctic station, and enabling the operation of polar expeditions.