Fyodor Konyukhov: a new station will be built in Antarctica
A new station, Smolenskaya, will be built on Smolensk Island in Antarctica. It will be the first Russian polar station constructed after the Soviet era and will focus on work with young people and students. This was announced by renowned traveller and member of the Russian Geographical Society Fyodor Konyukhov during his speech at the session "Geography of Travel" of the Open Lecture Hall "Inventing the Future: Geography" at the National Centre RUSSIA.
"We are opening a polar station on Smolensk Island to study Antarctica. It will be the first new Russian polar station. We already have six stations, but they were established by the previous generation in the Soviet period. The new station will offer opportunities for young people — for botanists and zoologists," said Fyodor Konyukhov.
Oskar Konyukhov, traveller, son of Fyodor Konyukhov, and head of his expedition headquarters, added that construction will begin with the delivery of two or three residential modules equipped with sleeping quarters, a kitchen, and sanitary facilities. They will be transported to Antarctica by the research vessel Akademik Fedorov. The modules are expected to arrive in Saint Petersburg in August, with unloading on Smolensk Island planned for November.
According to Oskar Konyukhov, the station will be operated by the Russian Antarctic Expedition. At present, researchers are based at the Bellingshausen station, which is operating beyond capacity. A Chilean station and an airfield are located nearby. He also noted that Smolensk Island is home to large colonies of elephant seals.
The Open Lecture Hall "Inventing the Future: Geography" continues the ideas of the exposition "Geography Lessons" and explores how the global resource map is changing under different climate scenarios, as well as how the relationship between humans and space is evolving with technological progress. Recordings of the lecture sessions are available on russia.ru in the "Livestreams and Videos" section.
