Li Hang: 700 days and nights of Antarctic scientific research

2022-08-18

Covered with ice and snow, extremely cold - in the ice covered continent of Antarctica, which is rarely visited, it is full of unknown and mysterious. For Dr. Li Hang, the "post-90s generation", Antarctica is like "home at the end of the world". From 2014 to 2020, he participated in China's 31st, 32nd and 36th Antarctic scientific expedition, with a total of 700 days. After work, he walks on the vast ice field, records the deep and gorgeous starry sky and Aurora with lens and words, and tells the little-known Antarctic story. Spend the "warmest" winter on October 30, 2014, China's 31st Antarctic scientific investigation team set out from Shanghai and took the "Snow Dragon" to the Zhongshan Station in the Antarctic. Li Hang, then 23, was one of the youngest members of the investigation team. "After more than 30 days of ice breaking journey on the 'Snow Dragon', I finally saw Zhongshan station. I really felt like I was home." Li Hang said. When he first arrived at the south pole, he was full of fresh feeling about everything in the pole. "In winter, the lowest temperature in Zhongshan station can reach minus 40 degrees Celsius, but the heating system in Zhongshan station is very awesome. For a southerner, I spent the 'warmest' winter in Antarctica." Antarctic exploration is divided into two types: Summer exploration and winter exploration. Among them, the overwintering expedition team must continue to stick to the Antarctic after the summer expedition team withdraws, and the time of "stationed" in the Antarctic can usually reach 14-17 months. Li Hang, who was a doctoral student in Geodesy at Wuhan University at that time, was a member of the wintering team. His main task was to be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Beidou satellite Antarctic ground observation station. "The Beidou satellite has greatly improved the independence of China's Antarctic scientific research and mapping support. In particular, with the official opening of the beidou-3 global satellite navigation system, now as long as the receiver is turned on in the Antarctic, you can see more than a dozen Beidou satellites overhead." He said. Since the first Antarctic expedition in 1984, generations of Chinese scientists have bravely explored the polar regions. Today, the conditions for Antarctic scientific research have been greatly improved, but there are still hidden risks in the cold and dry Antarctic continent with frequent storms. Li Hang said that the ice cracks on the sea ice and the continental ice sheet are one of the challenges facing the scientific research team. "The thickness of the inland ice sheet can reach more than 2000 meters, and once it falls, it will be an abyss; the sea ice is also turbulent with undercurrent. We will be extremely careful when we ride a snow motorcycle to carry out sea operations." In Antarctica, food is also a "luxury". Li Hang said that the food, clothing, accommodation and transportation of the scientific research team members were all transported to the investigation station by the Xuelong. From summer to winter, with the reduction of food, how to "guarantee quality" has become a big challenge. "Once, when we were cleaning up the materials for the winter, we found that there was a circuit failure in a refrigerator containing food. The vegetables, melons and fruits in the refrigerator had already given off a sour odor. At that time, we did not mention how painful it was." The "gifts" of the starry sky and the aurora brought a great test to the physiology and psychology of the scientific research team members during the winter in Antarctica. Li Hang said that during the summer, scientific research teams from various countries "gathered together" in the Antarctic, which was very lively. In winter, the South Pole suddenly quiets down, and often falls into darkness and loneliness. In the long polar night, except

Edit:Li Jialang    Responsible editor:Mu Mu

Source:gmw.cn

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