Belarusian explorers raise national flag in Antarctica

Belarusian polar explorers have raised the flags of Belarus and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) in Antarctica to mark the Day of Belarusian Science, BelTA learned from the press service of the NASB.

“In the run-up to the professional holiday, the flags of the Republic of Belarus and the National Academy of Sciences were raised at the field camp of the Belarusian Antarctic expedition, near Mount Vechernyaya. This is a kind of tribute to all the scientists of the country,” the NASB noted.

Belarusian scientists are not new to Antarctica. They are working hard to make an appreciable contribution to the global science. They want to help our country strengthen its positions among the signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, the press service noted quoting the message of the participants of the 7th Belarusian Antarctic expedition.

The National Polar Research Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus is conducting the 7th Antarctic expedition in 2014-2015 in line with the government program “Monitoring of polar areas of the Earth and providing support for Arctic and Antarctic expeditions in 2011-2015". On 20-21 December the Belarusian research team and the cargo of the Belarusian and Russian Antarctic expeditions were delivered to Antarctica by the expedition ship Akademik Fedorov. One of the key tasks of the 7th Belarusian Antarctic expedition is to equip the site with the necessary engineering equipment in order to install the first modules of the Belarusian Antarctic station in 2015. The work will be underway until mid-April 2015. The Belarusian polar explorers will carry out various kinds of research, including for the national space program. Members of the expedition will also test new hardware designed in Belarus for remote environmental probing.

The plan to build the Belarusian Antarctic station was drafted in 2012 upon the instruction of the Council of Ministers of Belarus. It was approved by the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry, and endorsed by the Finance Ministry. The first phase of the Belarusian Antarctic station is to be commissioned by 2018. The facility will comprise eight to ten modules fitted out with everything necessary for the polar explorers to live comfortably and work.