#40年向南极# On April 15, 2024, the "Snow Dragon" polar expedition icebreaker successfully docked at the China Polar Expedition Domestic Base in Shanghai, announcing the successful completion of the 40th Chinese Antarctic expedition.
The year 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the continental polar expedition. From being "invited" by the Antarctic Treaty Assembly to drink coffee outside, to planting the first five-star red flag in Antarctica, to establishing a research station on the top of the Antarctic ice sheet...... Over the past 40 years, China has been moving step by step to become a polar exploration power.
Since the first Chinese expedition to Antarctica in 1984, Wuhan University has sent more than 180 people to participate in China's 40 Antarctic scientific expeditions and 17 Arctic scientific expeditions.
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of China's polar expedition, Hubei Radio and Television Changjiang Cloud News and Wuhan University planned to launch a series of reports "40 Years, to Antarctica", telling the stories of the previous polar expedition members of Wuhan University. Today, the fifth article "Ma Yuanyuan: What is it like to live in Antarctica for 500 days?".
At the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University, Ma Yuanyuan, a doctoral student, is making final preparations for his graduation thesis. For most of the past six months, Ma Yuanyuan has devoted all his mind to his research topic, and in addition, what worries him the most is the news from Antarctica.
When the news came that the 40th Antarctic expedition of the mainland had successfully arrived in Shanghai on the "Snow Dragon", Ma Yuanyuan couldn't wait to open his mobile phone and look through it carefully. On that ship, there were not only his classmates, colleagues, and friends who worked with him, but also the memories of his doctoral career.
More than 3 years ago, Ma Yuanyuan participated in China's 37th Antarctic expedition and wintered there for 533 days. "More than a third of my PhD career has been in Antarctica," he said. ”
Ma Yuanyuan took a photo with penguins at Zhongshan Station
The first experience of traveling to Antarctica was seasickness
In 2020, the scientific expedition work of Zhongshan Station in Antarctica urgently needed a team member with a background in surveying, mapping and remote sensing, and Ma Yuanyuan, who had just been admitted to the doctorate, was successfully selected. On December 10 of the same year, he set off from Shanghai with the 37th Chinese Antarctic Expedition, and for the first time in his life, he went abroad and saw the sea for the first time, just to go to Antarctica.
Ma Yuanyuan is on the "Snow Dragon 2".
"I can't do anything, I basically have to lie in bed. As the boat sailed through the trade wind belt, Ma Yuanyuan's freshness to the sea quickly faded, and he felt nauseous, wanted to vomit, and was dizzy...... Seasickness was the first test of his trip to Antarctica. Ma Yuanyuan's dormitory is on the second floor, and the 9-meter-high waves crash against the windows of the dormitory, and the hull of the ship shakes sharply. "It's still a little scary. ”
No matter how much you shake, you have to eat. When it came to the meal, the experienced master moved freely, spread his feet, and steadily moved forward with the meal. Ma Yuanyuan could only follow the swaying of the hull and walked to the galley with difficulty. The dining table was fixed to the floor, and he sat down at the table with his rice bowl, swaying with the hull of the boat, barely keeping his balance. Listen to the stories of the old crew members at sea and get to know the fellow scientific expedition members...... Half a month later, he finally arrived at Zhongshan Station in Antarctica.
Polar work is not uncommon for 30 hours in a row
In Antarctica, Ma Yuanyuan is mainly responsible for the maintenance and data collection of various equipment at Zhongshan Station, and is jointly responsible for the atmospheric laser and atmospheric radar project of Zhongshan Station in Antarctica with a team member from Sun Yat-sen University. 8 devices, twice a day in the morning and evening for routine inspection, but also to collect and pre-process equipment data. It's not easy to collect data, it's more accurate when the weather is clear and cloudless, and each device has its own boot window.
"Some devices take 360 hours for the whole collection time, and some take 720 hours, and if you encounter a good observation time, you can't waste it, and it is common to observe for 30 or 40 hours in a row. Ma Yuanyuan said.
Ma Yuanyuan once asked seniors and teachers for advice on the experience of inspection, and the most heard were two words: "safety". Not only the safety of the individual, but also the safety of equipment, instruments and data. Everyone will write down the experience of dealing with extreme situations into the work log and exchange and share. Later, Ma Yuanyuan also wrote such a log.
Hemp source source doing data collection
Polar distress is the most painful to operate with bare hands
It was a July day in 2021, and it was the polar night. Ma Yuanyuan and his colleagues had just completed more than 50 hours of data collection and were about to return to the dormitory from the work cabin, when an accident occurred, and the skylight in the equipment room of the work cabin could not be closed.
The equipment has high precision, the response is also very sensitive, the indoor ambient temperature needs to be controlled at about 21 °C, if the wind and snow blow into the working cabin, the instrument is very damaged, the skylight must be closed!
Ma Yuanyuan's heart tightened, and he reported the situation to the leader as soon as possible, and found hot water and lubricating oil with his colleagues, all of which were useless. "We even prepared for the worst, and if we couldn't close it, we went to find a windproof cloth to block the window. ”
With the mentality of trying one last time, Ma Yuanyuan ran outside against the cold wind. Climbing up the ladder to the roof, the biting cold wind blew across his cheeks, and it hurt a little, but he didn't care so much, and pushed the skylight in hard. It was inconvenient to wear gloves, so he took off his gloves, and the moment he touched the metal frame, his hands stinged as if they were burned by fire, and in less than a minute, Ma Yuanyuan's hands were red from the cold, and he almost lost consciousness.
Just when he was about to give up, the skylight finally moved! This simple action, which usually only needs to press the remote control and can be completed in more than ten seconds, Ma Yuanyuan and his colleagues took more than one hour this time.
Back in the dormitory, they wrote the experience into their work diary as an experience to share with others later.
Hemp source at work
Ma Yuanyuan said that the content of work in the polar region is actually similar to that in school, but because of the harsh climatic conditions, many seemingly simple jobs have increased the difficulty several times: "Our equipment and instruments are very precise, and sometimes the temperature is too low to start, so we have to wrap the equipment in clothes, warm it with the temperature of the body, and use it when it is hot." There are also some that need to be operated with bare hands, and the hands can't stand it for a while. ”
Polar Life It is important to eat on time
Unlike the summer team members of the Antarctic scientific expedition, Ma Yuanyuan, the wintering team members, need to spend a whole winter in Antarctica, experiencing the change of Antarctica from polar day to polar night and then to polar day.
"The sun circles overhead, then slowly falls below the horizon, and the South Pole changes from polar day to polar night. Ma Yuanyuan said that there is no "sunrise and sunset" rhythm here, and the biological clock is all regulated by itself.
At this time, the importance of self-discipline is reflected. Ma Yuanyuan said that the most useful life technique in Antarctica is to eat on time: "Basically, as long as you eat according to the normal three meal times, the biological clock will maintain a basic stability." "Coupled with proper exercise, the polar day and polar night are not so difficult.
June 21 is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, and this day is the most important holiday in Antarctica, because the Southern Hemisphere has the widest polar night. For the members of the Antarctic expedition team, this day is also to celebrate, each country will send congratulatory messages to the expedition members, and the expedition members of various countries will also visit each other and do some social activities. Ma Yuanyuan recalled, "There were relatively few wintering team members, I only had 21 at that time, and I would inevitably feel lonely. But this day will be very lively, everyone eats together, plays ball, and has fun. ”
Aurora Burst A joy unique to winterers
However, the winterers also have their own happiness - the explosion of the aurora in the polar night.
Once, Ma Yuanyuan was collecting data in the working cabin, and the instrument suddenly detected the trace of the aurora. Ma Yuanyuan immediately ran to the skylight to look out, only to see some faint halos flickering in the dark night sky. Seeing the aurora for the first time, Ma Yuanyuan immediately took out his mobile phone and took a few photos, but because of his lack of experience, he didn't shoot well.
Later, whenever the aurora appeared, he took his camera and followed the veteran team out. Shoot the aurora, shutter, aperture, focal length...... There are tricks to these parameter settings, and Ma Yuanyuan tried again and again under the guidance of his teammates, and the more he shot, the better.
Group photo of Ma Yuanyuan and Aurora
At the door of the work cabin where he works every day, Ma Yuanyuan took the most satisfying photo of himself and Aurora. It was a great explosion of auroras, which lasted for a long time and had a large range, and the whole sky was a colorful color. "The aurora lights up the entire land, it's really shocking!"
He marked the longitude and latitude of the photograph and hung it in the work cabin, indicating the work he was responsible for: "The later team members will leave the photos there like me, which is a good memento, and I am looking forward to the work cabin being full of these photos." ”
Ma Yuanyuan turned on his mobile phone and showed his polar photography works to reporters, and he took more than 20 G's of material alone: "I can investigate in Antarctica, and I have photographed so many beautiful auroras, I feel that I can blow this for a lifetime!"
End the expedition with a few bottles of water from Nakayama Station
Exercising on the basketball court at Zhongshan Station, making dumplings together for the Spring Festival in the canteen, and collecting data in the work cabin...... For 533 days and nights, from polar day to polar night to polar day, Ma Yuanyuan successfully completed all the work in Antarctica. "Seeing a different scene was shocking and worthwhile, like a dream. ”
On the day of returning to China, the helicopter had already stopped at the gate of Zhongshan Station, and there were only 15 minutes left before the gathering, and Ma Yuanyuan was still shooting around with a camera. "I took a few bottles of water from Nakayama Station with me, and the feeling was complicated, and although I was homesick, I was reluctant to give up, because I knew that this might be the last time I came to this continent. ”
Ma Yuanyuan took photos in Antarctica
"In Antarctica, I felt devotioned. Ma Yuanyuan said that the conditions of the predecessors' base inspection were difficult, but they used their hands to create conditions for the later ones. They have encountered many dangers, but for the cause of the polar regions, they have the courage to challenge and make a lot of dedication. 40 years of experience accumulation, 40 years of spiritual inheritance, so that later people have no worries, "predecessors planted trees, descendants enjoy the shade." ”
In the future, Ma Yuanyuan will continue to engage in glacier research, and this experience in Antarctica has become his most precious memory.
(Changjiang Cloud News reporter Zhou Xiang, Wang Yu, Zhang Yiheng)