On January 4, at the Zhongshan Station in Antarctica, more than 10,000 kilometers away from the motherland, Quan Ronghui, a member of the 37th Chinese Antarctic Expedition, successfully completed all the scientific expedition tasks, ended more than a year of Antarctic life, and set off for China.
China's scientific expedition in Antarctica has achieved fruitful results, which is inseparable from those hard-working expedition team members. What is it like to go on an expedition in Antarctica? On January 5, the reporter connected with Quan Ronghui to listen to him tell the real life of the Antarctic scientific expedition.
"Repairing equipment has become commonplace"
On November 10, 2020, the 37th Chinese Antarctic Expedition organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources set off from Shanghai on the "Xuelong 2", as the director of the Institute of Space Science and Technology of the School of Astronautics of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Quan Ronghui relied on the International Meridian Space Station Science Program to explore space physics and space science related issues in Antarctica, and was mainly responsible for space environment observation tasks such as the high atmosphere of Zhongshan Station in this Antarctic expedition mission, and was responsible for the operation of multiple sets of space environment observation equipment such as high-frequency radar. Data processing and maintenance work.
In the eyes of many people, Antarctic glaciers are all over the place and should be very humid. But in fact, it is not, "the Antarctic climate is not only very cold, but also very dry." Quan Ronghui said that the harsh climate environment will also lead to equipment failure, so repairing equipment has become a common thing. He said that in the repair will also encounter a lot of problems, "sometimes there will be some lack of hardware, Antarctica is not better than in the country, can be purchased in time, we can only look for suitable accessories everywhere, if the accessories are not there, we can only think of other ways."
Quan Ronghui recalled that when he just arrived at Zhongshan Station, there was a high-frequency radar that had a big failure, and it was necessary to replace the motherboard, and after replacing it, he found that the CPU was gone, in order to solve this problem, he removed a CPU from another computer, thinking of installing it on the high-frequency radar, but the installation lacked silicone grease (used between the back of the CPU and the fan, mainly paste and heat dissipation). "At that time, the radar spare parts were missing the material, and I searched for the materials of the other mission systems on the station and did not find them, and finally found the last small tube left on the network electronics engineer's side." Radar's operating system is also different from the domestic Windows system, and it needs to be re-learned in order to adjust the relevant parameters of the experiment, "so the challenge is still quite big," Quan Ronghui said with a smile.
In addition to the equipment "strike" from time to time, during the field investigation, it is often faced with the test of the weather change, and Quan Ronghui has encountered several sudden weather during the field expedition. Once, he went to a place two hours away from the station area to install equipment, and the weather turned from cloudy to cloudy halfway, and soon the wind blew again, and there was light snow, "We decided to return immediately." Just arrived at the station area, the weather turned into heavy snow and wind, visibility was almost zero, if the decision was wrong at that time, you may be lost and unable to come back, encountering greater dangers, such as falls, freezes, etc. Therefore, in general, you must first see the weather forecast when you go to the wild, and many people are traveling together. Quan Ronghui said.
The night is long and cold, and "the bitterness here is actually very sweet."
Long nights, bone-chilling temperatures, empty snow, rare species... What is daunting about Antarctica is not only the harsh natural environment, but also the enormous mental stress caused by extreme conditions. But in Quan Ronghui's view, "the bitterness here is actually very sweet."
"We all know that in China, the deeper the gap or cave, the darker it is, but above the ice sheet in Antarctica, the gap is nearly 100 meters deep, people look down from above, the bottom is blue light, and after digging up the ice, it is found to be transparent, and this 'blue ice phenomenon' is very magical." When Quan Ronghui went out with the team to climb through the valley, he often saw strange stones like flowers, arches, and insect erosion.
More than a year of life in Antarctica, in addition to scientific research, there are many other activities. "Thanks to its topography and unique climate, Antarctica is a natural ski resort." The place quan Ronghui used to observe is located on a high ground near Zhongshan Station, and in addition to skiing, the climbing of the mountain that is normally patrolled every day is also a unique way for him to exercise in Antarctica.
The second floor of Zhongshan Station is a relaxation area that includes a large conference room, infirmary, gymnasium and restaurant. Quan Ronghui likes to play table tennis, and in his free time, he often finds two or three friends to practice his skills, and in the table tennis competition held at Zhongshan Station, Quan Ronghui also won the third place and won two notebooks with Antarctic characteristics.
In the station, Quan Ronghui has another layer of identity - the librarian of Zhongshan Station. He introduced that most of the books in the library of Zhongshan Station were donated, and some of them were brought by the team members. "The original library was already full of books, and my teammates and I set up another one."
Quan Ronghui introduced that Antarctica's diet is diverse and unique, equipped with a chef-level chef, and the ingredients purchased come from all over the world. "In the early stages of the expedition, the food was very generous. But after half a year, the only ingredients left were storage-resistant dishes such as onions, potatoes, and yams. At this time, vegetables are very precious, but we have a greenhouse for growing vegetables here, and we may eat cabbage and cucumber green vegetables once every two or three weeks. ”
"In this capsule of time and space, there is my deep attachment to it"
What is Antarctica? A thousand people have a thousand answers. But what remains unchanged is the attachment to the Antarctic and the unique Antarctic complex that everyone shows when they answer.
Overcoming many challenges, Quan Ronghui has gained a lot in scientific research, and he has obtained about 63TB of observation data in his work, serving many national research projects, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and international cooperation research projects such as China-Japan, Sino-AMERICAN, and Sino-Norwegian countries. In terms of the scheduling and execution of the Meridian Project, he has successively participated in the launch support mission of the Chang'e-5 probe, the launch support mission of the space station and the core module, the solar activity event detection plan, and the multi-station joint detection plan of the large area of the sudden metal layer and the hot layer metal layer.
In the year of antarctic scientific expeditions, Quan Ronghui did not leave his original job, as the director of the Institute of Space Science and Technology of China Southern Aviation Aerospace College and the graduate tutor, he would hold 1 to 2 conference calls from time to time every week to supervise the progress of graduate students and the progress of related work in the institute.
"When I first arrived in Antarctica, although I was very excited, when I saw the helicopter that sent us evacuated, I still felt lonely when I thought that I was more than 10,000 kilometers away from my hometown." Quan Ronghui told reporters that he would contact his family 2 to 3 times a week.
Talking about this Antarctic scientific expedition, Quan Ronghui has many feelings and gains. "You can clearly feel the growing strength of the motherland." Quan Ronghui said, "The conditions in the station are getting better and better, not only have multi-functional rooms, but also a wealth of ingredients, wintering security, communication facilities, etc. are getting better and better." ”
"At Zhongshan Station, I also felt the strength of the collective force. In addition to professional work, the team members must also participate in collective labor, such as unloading, material handling and sorting, helping the kitchen, etc., and also have to deal with the difficult work in various positions together. "Quan Ronghui told reporters that he was responsible for the laying of 700 kilograms of cables for the altimeter, which was pulled and laid by the whole station team members." With the help of everyone, the difficulties encountered can be solved quickly. ”
Now, Quan Ronghui is already on his way back. His deep attachment to Antarctica gave him a strong sense of protection. "Antarctica is the only clean holy place that has not yet been explored by humans. When we do scientific research, we should also protect it, not destroy it. Quan Ronghui said that antarctica may carry the fate of the earth's future, "in this capsule of time and space, there is my deep attachment to it."
Column Editor-in-Chief: Gu Wanquan Text Editor: Yang Rong Title Image Source: Xinhua News Agency (Data Map) Photo Editor: Cao Liyuan
Source: Author: Guangming Daily
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