At 9:30 a.m. local time on December 16, the departure ceremony of China's 40th Antarctic Expedition Inland Team was held, and 29 team members will go to Taishan Station, Kunlun Station and Grove Mountain area to carry out relevant scientific investigations. In the afternoon of the same day, the unloading operation in the Zhongshan Station area was successfully completed. Next, the "Snow Dragon" will go to the Great Wall Station to continue its unloading and scientific research missions.
The inland team includes the Kunlun Station (Taishan Station) team and the Grove Hill team. Among them, the Kunlun Station (Taishan Station) team consists of 20 members, who will pass through Taishan Station and arrive at Kunlun Station, which is located at the highest point of the Antarctic ice sheet at an altitude of 4,087 meters, to carry out scientific investigations such as glaciology, astronomy, geology, and geophysics. The Grove Mountain team consists of nine members, who will travel more than 460 kilometers to the Grove Mountain area at an average altitude of more than 2,000 meters to carry out geological surveys, ice core drilling, meteorite search and other scientific investigations.
The unloading was an important part of China's 40th Antarctic expedition and the first large-scale operation of the expedition team. After 16 days and nights of hard work, the "Snow Dragon" overcame the difficulties of complex sea ice conditions and changeable weather, seized the favorable opportunity, and used KA32 helicopters to lift 49 sorties and 435 cranes, and transported 1,561 tons of materials to Zhongshan Station and inland departure bases.
On December 15, the handover ceremony was held for the 40th and 39th wintering teams of Zhongshan Station. After a year of hard work, the 39th wintering team safely and successfully completed various tasks such as station management, operation support, and monitoring of business scientific research concepts.
Author: Hu Runxin, Liu Shiyao
Source: People's Daily client