General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's polar expedition. Over the past 40 years, under the leadership of the party, the mainland's polar cause has grown from scratch and from weak to strong, and generations of polar workers have bravely fought the extreme cold, persevered, worked hard and dedicated, rigorous and realistic, and worked hard, and achieved fruitful results. On April 10, the 40th Antarctic Expedition of the mainland and the icebreaker "Snow Dragon" polar expedition organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources successfully returned to China and docked at the dock of Qingdao Olympic Sailing Base in Shandong, marking the successful conclusion of the 40th Antarctic expedition of the mainland. What difficulties and challenges did the expedition encounter? What unforgettable moments did the expedition members experience? A few days ago, this reporter interviewed four members of the 40 th Antarctic expedition and listened to their stories about the Antarctic scientific expedition. -- The editor
The "Snow Dragon" traveled in the waters near Zhongshan Station in Antarctica. Photo by Wang Na
Fan Gaojing, captain of the "Snow Dragon" ocean team——
In the face of difficulties and trials, a deep friendship was formed
Although the 40th Antarctic expedition has ended, the time spent with his teammates is still vivid.
Fan Gaojing (middle) is carrying out a submersible target recovery operation. Photo by Lin Zixuan
In this part of the ocean scientific expedition, we mainly carried out the investigation, monitoring and scientific research of marine ecological elements in the surrounding waters of Antarctica focusing on trophic level structure, and the projects came from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and national key research and development projects of universities or research institutes, covering multidisciplinary research contents such as marine technology, marine biology and marine chemistry.
Ocean expeditions often "fail to keep up with changes" and may encounter frequent cyclones and rough sea conditions at any time. Originally, we planned a month and a half of operation time, but due to various environmental factors, the ship was delayed for 6 days. However, with their perseverance and perseverance, the members of the Dayang team overcame various difficulties and still completed the task four days ahead of schedule.
I still remember that as soon as we arrived at the site to work, we encountered a strong cyclone situation, with a maximum swell of 4 meters and a maximum gust of wind reaching level 9. There are 31 members of the Ocean team, 21 of whom are participating in the Antarctic voyage for the first time. In the face of such complex sea conditions and meteorological conditions, the veteran team members played the role of "passing on the help", and took the new team members to continuously optimize and adjust the operation plan and refine each operation step. In the face of severe tests, some team members suffered muscle strain, frostbite skin, and were so tired that they might fall asleep at any time, but no one complained, and finally everyone worked together to complete the ocean scientific expedition task. For example, all submersible target recovery and deployment operations have been successfully completed, and key long-term series data and samples have been collected, which will provide important support for the follow-up research on the impact of basic environmental changes such as sea ice and circulation in the Southern Ocean on the cycle of biogenous elements and carbon source and sink patterns. In the face of difficulties and trials, we have formed a deep friendship.
It has been 10 years since I came into contact with the Antarctic scientific expedition. In the past 10 years, with the improvement of support capabilities, the continental polar expedition has changed from scattered multidisciplinary surveys to focusing on scientific objectives, from single-ship expeditions to "Ssangyong pole exploration", and the voyage ocean operation time has gradually increased from less than one month to more than two months...... I consider myself very fortunate to have caught up with the rapid development of the mainland's Antarctic expedition, and I believe that we will be able to achieve more.
(Interviewed by reporter Hu Runxin)
Yao Xu, captain of the inland investigation Kunlun Station (Taishan Station) team——
Every time you go to Antarctica, you get a different harvest
The Antarctic continent is ancient and mysterious, and although I have participated in 16 Antarctic expeditions, every time I come, I treat it like the first time.
Yao Xu is installing low-frequency radio all-day spectrum equipment. Photo by Zhang Tong
During the 40th Antarctic expedition just past, my teammates and I not only had to drive heavy snowmobiles back and forth between Zhongshan Station and Kunlun Station to carry out scientific research tasks, but also explored the sea ice around Zhongshan Station in advance to assist in unloading and other related operations in the station area.
Inland expeditions initially explored areas about 300 kilometers and 400 kilometers away, and slowly extended to 1,100 kilometers, little by little deeper into the Antarctic continent. This expedition further extended the exploration route of the Antarctic continent, extending the distance of about 120 kilometers. In order to ensure the safety and smoothness of the expansion operation, we have carefully prepared and carried out a lot of work such as satellite image analysis, route selection and planning, and used scientific and technological means to identify the topography and landform of unfamiliar areas.
The weather in Antarctica can be described as "moody". During this expedition, we experienced a relatively large snowstorm. At that time, the snowfall was extremely heavy, and under the effect of the wind blowing the snow, the snow outside the living cabin was two adults high, and all four snowmobiles parked in the snow were buried. Since there was no professional excavation equipment, we had to manually dig the truck, and it took a full day to dig the car out.
The workload of inland expeditions is very large, especially in field operations, where the work of one team member often requires three or four people to work together to complete it. But no one shouted that they were tired, and everyone took the initiative to rush to do it. We have successfully carried out near-infrared astronomical observation and full-time monitoring of the near-earth space environment for the first time at Kunlun Station, and successfully measured key data such as the near-infrared skylight background in the whole sky of Kunlun Station, which provides a solid foundation for Kunlun Station to carry out year-round air and space observations.
In addition to "old Antarctica" like me, there are many new young people in the team. Looking at their hard work, I am full of confidence in the future of Antarctic scientific research!
(Interviewed by reporter Hu Runxin)
Congratulations to the architect of Qinling Station——
Create a warm home for the scientific expedition members
On February 7, Qinling Station announced the opening of the station. Qinling Station is the fifth scientific research station built by the mainland in Antarctica, and it is also the first Antarctic research station facing the Pacific sector. As the resident architect of Qinling Station, I and more than 100 construction team members met the challenges on this frozen continent and created a warm home for the scientific expedition team members.
At the construction site of Qinling Station, congratulations on commuting by snowmobile. Photo by Lin Yiyu
The area where Qinling Station is located is one of the famous "tuyeres" in Antarctica. In order to ensure that Qinling Station stands safely at the "tuyere", we fully consider the terrain, ocean currents, wind direction, sun altitude angle and snow shadow area and other factors, and carry out simulation tests for many times to continuously optimize the shape and structure.
After scientific research and judgment, the main building of Qinling Station finally adopts a centralized layout, which is divided into two parts: the main building and the logistics center. The main building stands on a seaside rock face, with the lower part firmly anchored to the ground, and the logistics center prostrates on the side, forming the base of the main building together with the original bedrock. The main building is connected to the logistics center, so that the team members can live and work without leaving home, protected from wind and snow......
The process of building a website is full of challenges and touches. For example, the Antarctic continent usually only has a short summer season from December to February, which is the best window for material transportation and construction work. The expedition team must complete the unloading of materials, the construction of temporary living facilities, and the construction of the steel structure of the main building within 3 months. In late January this year, after meteorological observations, a Category 12 hurricane was about to hit Qinling Station, and the curtain wall that had not yet been closed may be affected. The expedition team immediately decided to carry out emergency operations on the windward side. More than 40 construction team members were divided into 5 teams and used traction ropes to cooperate with cranes to control the movement trajectory of the curtain wall panels with difficulty. After more than ten hours of hard work, the construction was finally completed before the hurricane came.
Seven years ago, when the 33rd Chinese Antarctic Expedition arrived in the Ross Sea to participate in the site selection optimization work, I was deeply touched by the beautiful scenery here, and seven years later, as an architect, I set foot on this land again as an architect and witnessed the successful completion of Qinling Station, and I feel even more responsible and honorable. We will continue to work hard to make new contributions to the understanding, protection and use of the polar regions.
(Interviewed by reporter Liu Shiyao)
Cheng Xuyu, captain of the fixed-wing aircraft team——
Seize the time window for scientific research in the changing weather
The work of the fixed-wing aircraft fleet mainly includes two aspects: one is to carry out scientific investigation, emergency rescue, international cooperation, logistics support and other flight missions based on the fixed-wing aircraft "Snow Eagle 601", and the other is to maintain the normal operation of Zhongshan Ice and Snow Airport.
I am a post-90s generation, but I have participated in 6 Antarctic expeditions and 4 fixed-wing aircraft operations. In the 40th Antarctic expedition, as the captain of the fixed-wing aircraft fleet, on the one hand, I am responsible for organizing the team members to implement various instructions and carry out various tasks, and on the other hand, the age gradient of our team members is very large, the youngest is 24 years old, the oldest is 68 years old, and it is also my important duty to ensure that each team member works and lives healthily.
Cheng Xuyu is near Zhongshan Station in Antarctica. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Weather is a key factor in flying. Sometimes, even though it is a sunny day, a gust of wind blows, raising snow on the ground, and visibility drops instantly, which can bring great risks to aircraft take-off and landing. We need to seize the time window for scientific research in the changing weather.
In such a harsh working environment, I was particularly touched by the mental state of the team members.
On February 4, Zhongshan Ice and Snow Airport was hit by a snowstorm, and the "Snow Eagle 601" and the airport camp were buried by snow within a day. On February 6, after the strong wind, everyone used excavators, snowmobiles, small loaders, and shovels, and it took half a day to dig out the plane, and then seize the weather window and quickly take off to collect data. Another time, we had to dismantle the onboard research equipment overnight, and the temperature in Antarctica was very low at night, and the team members risked injury to touch a large amount of metal equipment, but no one stopped their work to buy more time for the follow-up mission.
During this expedition, "Snow Eagle 601" took off and landed a total of 44 times based on Zhongshan Ice and Snow Airport, and the scientific research data obtained filled the key data gaps in the subglacial topography of the East Antarctic coast, which can provide a basis for assessing the changes in the total amount of material in the Antarctic ice sheet, the instability of the ice sheet and its impact on global sea level rise. It is worth mentioning that Zhongshan Ice and Snow Airport was used as an alternate airport by Russia and Australia for the first time, and the mainland, as the initiator, successfully carried out the Antarctic "Ring" international cooperation program with the participation of "Snow Eagle 601", and we are very proud to be able to complete this extremely challenging task.
(Interviewed by reporter Liu Shiyao)
Source:
Source: People's Daily (April 12, 2024, Edition 06)