"It is always difficult for the first one": what role did the Soviet station "Mirny" play in the development of Antarctica?

On February 13, 1956, the grand opening of the first Soviet Antarctic station took place.

It got the name "Mirny" - in honor of the sailing sloop, which took part in the Russian expedition under the command of Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, who discovered Antarctica in 1820.

First steps

According to historians, for a long time the systematic study of the continent was complicated by the lack of appropriate technical capabilities of the fleets of the leading world powers.

The process of exploring Antarctica intensified in the late 19th - early 20th centuries.

However, Russia dropped out of it for several decades due to wars, revolutions and economic problems.

In the 1930s, the Soviet Union began active exploration of the Arctic.

In the postwar period, Soviet scientists rushed to the southernmost continent.

Since 1955, in accordance with the decree of the USSR Council of Ministers, the Soviet Complex Antarctic Expedition began to operate.

As historians note, it was well equipped.

She had four planes and two helicopters at her disposal.

The diesel-electric ship "Ob" became the flagship of its fleet, which was supposed to deliver tractors, bulldozers, all-terrain vehicles, special trucks, power plants and communications equipment to the shores of Antarctica.

Following the "Ob" to the shores of Antarctica, two more ships sailed: "Lena" and "Refrigerator No. 7".

The expedition was led by the famous polar explorer, Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Somov.

In total, 425 people took part in the work of the expedition.

Soviet explorers landed on the Antarctic coast on January 5, 1956.

However, a successful site for the construction of the station was found only after a few days.

After aerial reconnaissance, 20 people landed on the coast of the Davis Sea near Haswell Island.

They set up a runway on the glacier.

Then the researchers began to ferry equipment ashore.

“A reference point was needed to conduct the research, and so it was determined,” Mikhail Lomakin, deputy director of the Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic, said in a conversation with RT.

February 13, 1956 became the official birthday of the first Soviet Antarctic station.

On this day, the state flag of the USSR was raised over it.

The station was named "Mirny".

• Opening of Mirny station in 1956, postage stamp

• © Wikimedia Commons

“The name was chosen very well.

It served ideological goals in the spirit of the times - it demonstrated that Soviet scientists came to Antarctica for the sake of peace, and at the same time had historical roots.

This is the name of one of the two sloops of the Russian imperial fleet, which sailed around Antarctica at the beginning of the 19th century, ”said Konstantin Strelbitsky, chairman of the Moscow Fleet History Club, in an interview with RT.

Past, present and future

The construction of the station began with a radio center that provided direct communication with Moscow.

An aerological pavilion, geophysical, glaciological, aerological and other laboratories, and living quarters were also erected.

The houses were designed to accommodate up to 10 people.

In addition to living rooms, they housed kitchen-boiler rooms, storerooms and vestibules.

As Konstantin Strelbitsky said, the station already in the first years of its existence was a complex of about two dozen structures with its own small ocean port and airfield.

“The development was not chaotic.

Everything was in order.

The only street created at the station was named after Lenin, ”the expert emphasized.

One of the buildings of Mirny was taken as a medical center.

In addition, a dining room was located in a separate room, which was also used for showing films, lectures and organizing amateur evenings, Strelbitsky said.

“For a long time, Mirny station was a kind of capital or center of the Antarctic expedition.

At this time, most of the polar explorers wintered at the station, from here the work of other Antarctic stations was coordinated, "said Alexander Klepikov, Deputy Director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, head of the Russian Antarctic Expedition, in a commentary to RT.

According to the honorary polar explorer of Russia Viktor Boyarsky, the supply of the inland station Vostok, founded a year later, went through the Mirny station.

• Aerometeorological squad of the Antarctic expedition

• RIA News

• © S. Preobrazhensky

“Initially, our scientists and specialists faced a whole bunch of problems there, since there was little understanding of the snow and wind regime of Antarctica.

Since the first station was built on a glacier, in the very first winter it was covered with snow, then the cover only grew, ”Boyarsky said.

According to him, despite the fact that it was difficult to work at the station, in some years there were up to a hundred winterers there.

In the 1960s, Mirny already included 64 structures, many of which soon found themselves under the snow.

In the 1970s, the station underwent reconstruction.

Large modular houses, a diesel power plant building and a garage were built.

The old structures buried under a thick layer of snow were no longer used.

“After the Vostok station was supplied from the Progress station, the functions and significance of Mirny as the center of the Antarctic expedition were transferred to Progress, but the whole complex of monitoring programs remained unchanged, with the exception of temporary stops of observations on some programs due to equipment upgrades, ”said Alexander Klepikov.

• Station in 2007

• © Wikimedia Commons

Viktor Boyarsky also noted that the Mirny station continues to play a vital role in the exploration of Antarctica.

“All our Antarctic stations are located evenly along the perimeter of the entire continent, in contrast to the stations of other states, which are localized in a certain segment.

Of course, the data that our stations received showed a more complete picture, since they covered the entire continent.

The Mirny station still retains its importance today, as it is located at a considerable distance from other stations.

It is extremely important to have a reference point in this place, ”the expert explained.

According to Alexander Klepikov, the maximum number of scientific programs is being implemented at the Mirny station: continuous observations of the climate, geophysical, ozonometric, seismic, coastal hydrological observations, monitoring of galactic cosmic rays.

Mirny participates in the creation of a network of reference points in the southern hemisphere for the domestic satellite system GLONASS.

In addition, there is a large colony of emperor penguins near the station, and scientists are constantly monitoring it.

• Colony of penguins in the area of ​​the Russian Antarctic station "Mirny" on the coast of the Davis Sea

• RIA News

• © Razumov

“Antarctica is the main cuisine of the southern hemisphere weather.

The more stations providing homogeneous information, the clearer the processes taking place over the south polar region.

Mirny is such a workhorse.

Therefore, the station is operating and will continue to operate, ”Mikhail Lomakin said.

According to Viktor Boyarsky, Mirny station has played an outstanding role in history.

“It is always difficult for the first ones, because you never know what awaits you, and the importance of this station can hardly be overestimated.

This is a real symbol of our Antarctic programs, "Boyarsky summed up.