Recently, China's Antarctic Qinling Station was completed and put into use, which is the fifth scientific research station established in Antarctica by China after China's Antarctic Great Wall Station, Zhongshan Station, Kunlun Station and Taishan Station.
Associate Professor Zhang Baojun is carrying out an Antarctic scientific research mission. (Photo courtesy of Professor Ai Songtao).
Four teachers and students from Wuhan University are participating in China's 40th Antarctic scientific expedition, including Associate Professor Zhang Baojun at Qinling Station in Antarctica. Ai Songtao, a professor at Wuhan University and deputy director of the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center, told reporters that in the 40 years of China's Antarctic scientific expedition, Wuhan University has never been absent, witnessing the process of China's polar scientific expedition from scratch, from small to large, from weak to strong.
At the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University, Professor Ai Songtao opened the "Polargo Ssangyong Exploration" spatio-temporal information platform and quickly found the five scientific research stations established by China in Antarctica. "Polargo Ssangyong Explorer" is a safe and controllable scientific research instrument independently developed by Wuhan University.
At this time, Ai Songtao remembered the words and deeds of his mentor, Professor E Dongchen, who is known as the "father of polar surveying and mapping". In 1984, E Dongchen participated in China's first Antarctic expedition, and he was the only scientist in China who participated in the construction of three stations in China's North and South Poles and the first expedition to the Arctic Ocean at the same time. China's first Antarctic map, the topographic map of the Great Wall Station, was drawn by E Dongchen, and China's first Antarctic place name, the Great Wall Bay, was also named by E Dongchen. In addition, E Dongchen also presided over the naming of more than 350 Chinese Antarctic place names, which can be said to fill the gap of no Chinese named place names in Antarctica.
Open the "Polargo Ssangyong Exploration" spatio-temporal information platform to find the five scientific research stations established by China in Antarctica. (Photo courtesy of Professor Ai Songtao).
Professor Zhang Xiaohong, director of the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University, has been to Antarctica twice, and he told reporters that the North and South Poles have become important regions that affect global sustainable development and are related to the destiny of mankind, and have become the high point of competition between major powers, and are also an important window for countries to participate in global governance. Therefore, the polar regions involve not only scientific research, but also many aspects such as strategy, economy, science and technology, environment, waterways, and resources.
The completion of China's Qinling Station in Antarctica has filled the gap in China's construction of stations in the southwest sector of Antarctica. Zhang Xiaohong said that from the spatial layout of our national scientific expedition, there should be a scientific research station. As the "highland" of China's Antarctic surveying and mapping, Wuhan University has established a polar surveying and mapping technology system suitable for China's national conditions, and has also built the first Beidou monitoring station outside China and all high-latitude Beidou monitoring stations, published China's first set of Antarctic atlases, named a number of Chinese Antarctic place names, and created the world's leading polar spatio-temporal information visualization integration platform, namely "Polargo Ssangyong Pole Exploration".
Edongchen often tells the students the story of polar expeditions. Ai Songtao told reporters that in 1984, Chinese scientists "went out" to Antarctica for the first time, and Professor E Dongchen accompanied the team to start a journey to the south. At that time, there were no icebreakers, and only ordinary ships were relied on to carry out the difficult exploration. The Antarctic expedition was undoubtedly a thrilling journey, and one of the most dangerous routes was the westerly winds of the Southern Hemisphere, known as the "Roaring 40°", when Professor E's ship was like a small leaf in the stormy waves, which was terrifying.
China's Antarctic Qinling Station is displayed on the "Polargo Ssangyong Exploration" spatio-temporal information platform. (Photo courtesy of Professor Ai Songtao).
Nine years later, China purchased an unfinished Arctic Ocean transport and supply ship from Ukraine, which has been transformed many times and has become the only polar research icebreaker in China - "Snow Dragon". In 2002, Ai Songtao, a master's student at Wuhan University, took the "Snow Dragon" to participate in the Antarctic scientific expedition. Ai Songtao recalled that when the "Snow Dragon" crossed the westerly wind belt, the hull shook so badly that many people became seasick, and "I lay in bed for three or four days before my body slowly recovered."
For a long time, the advancement of China's polar scientific research has been restricted by the ice-breaking ability of ships. Until September 2018, China's first self-built polar research icebreaker "Snow Dragon 2" was launched. Ai Songtao said that the "Snow Dragon 2" is equipped with a stabilizer device, which will appear more stable when encountering strong winds and waves. It is understood that the "Snow Dragon 2" has filled the gap in the field of major equipment for China's polar scientific expeditions. Compared with the new generation of polar research icebreakers in the world, the "Snow Dragon 2" pioneered the two-way icebreaking and sunken keel design among the polar research icebreakers, and adopted the intelligent hull and intelligent cabin design for the first time, which has Chinese characteristics and has also reached the international advanced level.
From 2014 to 2016, Dr. Li Hang of Wuhan University participated in China's 31st and 32nd Antarctic scientific expeditions, and was stationed at the Zhongshan Antarctic Research Station for nearly 500 days. On May 24, 2015, the Rusman Hilly area, where Zhongshan Station is located, officially entered the polar night, which was the first time Li Hang wintered in Antarctica. "Anything that goes wrong in communications, power generation, or food preservation can be a serious survival test for winterers. ”
Prospect of Qinling Station in Antarctica, China. (Photo courtesy of Professor Ai Songtao).
During a routine inspection of the station area, Li Hang and his teammates found that a refrigerated container containing food had a faulty circuit, causing a large area of vegetables such as cabbage, radishes, and potatoes stored inside to rot. After some "rescue", it turned out that several baskets of cabbage were finally evenly formed into a basket, and they will live without stable fresh vegetables earlier than originally planned.
Wang Huiya, secretary of the School of Culinary and Food Engineering at Wuhan Business School and a master of Chinese cooking, went to the Great Wall Station in Antarctica in 2009 to work as a culinary for 13 months. At that time, there were 3 teachers and students in the school who served as chefs at Zhongshan Station and Kunlun Station respectively. Wang Huiya told the Yangtze River ** reporter that most of the ingredients in Antarctica are transported by the Snow Dragon. Meat is sufficient, and the most precious are vegetables. Now, however, it is also possible to grow soilless in Antarctica. Today, the soilless vegetable cultivation base in China's Antarctic research station is very mature, and you can eat fresh celery, cabbage, green peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables.
(Yangtze River ** reporter Wang Yang intern Liu Yuting).