Over the past 40 years of China’s polar expeditions, generations of polar workers have braved the extreme cold, persevered, worked hard, been rigorous and realistic, and worked hard, and have achieved fruitful results. Many young people participate in every Antarctic expedition.
Captain of the "Snow Dragon 2": Exploring the Extremely Low and Deeper
Xiao Zhimin, who is less than 40 years old this year, is already a polar veteran. Including this voyage, he has participated in 18 polar expeditions, including 10 in the Antarctic and 8 in the North Pole. In his eyes, China's polar expeditions have developed by leaps and bounds in the past decade or so, especially after the "Snow Dragon 2" was put into service. He and his teammates also witnessed many "firsts" in China's polar expeditions.
Xiao Zhimin, Captain of the "Snow Dragon 2": The first voyage of the Arctic Northeast Passage, Northwest Passage, and Central Passage. The first circumnavigation of Antarctica, the first operations in the Antarctic Ross Sea and the Antarctic Astronaut Sea. There is also the first time to reach the North Pole. I am very lucky to witness these firsts in our polar fields. Step by step in these fields, we move from the unknown to the known.
Xiao Zhimin told reporters that the substantial expansion of the breadth and depth of polar expeditions is inseparable from the powerful head-to-tail two-way icebreaking capability of the "Snow Dragon 2". Areas with relatively serious sea ice that were inaccessible before can now be reached safely.
In terms of power system, "Snow Dragon 2" is equipped with four generators and dual pods, but it can maintain normal navigation only by relying on a single generator and a single pod, so it has a very large safety redundancy.
In terms of inspection level, "Snow Dragon 2" has also brought a qualitative leap. Not only can all involved marine survey projects be carried out, but also because it is equipped with a dynamic positioning system, it can be firmly fixed in one position during operations, greatly improving the accuracy of operations.
Captain Xiao Zhimin of the "Snow Dragon 2": For example, if our ship stops for drifting operations, the drifting speed can reach more than 2 knots when the wind is strong, which is close to about 4 kilometers per hour. If an operation takes a very long time In two or three hours, the change in our ship's position has reached more than 10 kilometers, so scientifically speaking, the accuracy of our sampling location during floating operations is relatively low.
Captain Xiao Zhimin of the "Snow Dragon 2": Every time we go to Antarctica, we have to cross the westerly zone. In the years when I first started working, we relied on very simple weather fax charts to judge the weather in the westerly zone. It was impossible to do that. Very high-precision weather judgment. The ship often rolls to 20 or 30 degrees. Now our weather support can very accurately judge future weather changes and adjust the route very accurately to avoid these bad weather. "Xuelong 2" is also equipped with an anti-rolling water tank, so that even when the weather is relatively bad, we can reduce the lateral sway of the ship, improve the comfort of the people on board, and improve safety.
Exploring Antarctica The "post-90s generation" bravely takes the lead
In China's 40th Antarctic expedition, the new polar forces played an important role. Taking the "Snow Dragon 2" as an example, the average age of the expedition team is 34 years old, of which the energetic post-90s generation accounts for 46% and the experienced post-80s generation accounts for 30%. They are the main force of the expedition team. Faced with many challenges such as the special polar environment, complex work content, and huge safety risks, they rose to the challenge, demonstrating the vitality of young people in the new era.
The last operation task of the "Snow Dragon 2" voyage inspection is also the only land-based operation. Several expedition members will take a helicopter to the penguin habitat on the coast of the Amundsen Sea to conduct relevant investigations.
90 generation Chen Chao is the captain of the Oceanic Team of the "Snow Dragon 2". Although he is still young, he is already an expert in polar expeditions.
Islands where penguins inhabit are also popularly called "Penguin Islands". There are a few hills to climb on the island, but there are no roads. Walking on it, there are both rocks of different shapes and sizes, as well as flat and smooth ice.The team members carried shovels with them and used them to dig up the ice and insert stones as a foothold for everyone to pass through the ice.
In the team that landed on the island, everyone had a clear division of labor: some were responsible for finding the way, some were responsible for sampling, and some were responsible for contact. Climbing over mountains and ridges in ice and snow, He Jing, a post-90s expedition team member, has always taken the initiative to take on the task of exploring the path. Although this is his first time to participate in a polar expedition, he has a lot of experience in exploring the path.
Every once in a while, the expedition team members will record the geographical coordinates, and every time they walk, they will also carefully identify the ground. During the specified inspection time, they discovered penguin feathers, footprints and other traces and took samples.
Due to factors such as population migration and time changes, no penguins were encountered in the end. But the team members are not discouraged. They say that even if they only find traces of penguins' life, it is still a gain. Through subsequent research, they can further enhance their understanding of population changes.
These young team members, whether it is their first time or they have been here many times, are full of enthusiasm and yearning for the polar regions.
Qi Luyang, a member of China’s 40th Antarctic Expedition: If we travel continuously to the North and South Pole, once a year to the North Pole and once to the South Pole, we will spend about 5 to 6 months at home.
He Jing, a member of China’s 40th Antarctic Expedition: Maybe because I was an only child, my parents were opposed to it at first, but in fact, I slowly tried to convince them later, because I think this experience, or this This experience is actually quite rare.
Chen Chao, captain of the "Snow Dragon 2" ocean team of China's 40th Antarctic expedition: In 2023, we just went to 13 North (China's 13th Arctic Ocean expedition), and when we came back, we were at 40 South again (China's 40th Arctic Ocean expedition) Antarctic expedition), so without the silent support of my family, it would have been impossible for me to come out. I would not have been able to engage in polar work in Antarctica or the Arctic with such confidence.
Wang Jinhui, deputy leader of China’s 40th Antarctic Expedition: Many people born in the 1990s have already taken the lead. For example, the director of our laboratory, Shen Yue, was born in 1991, including Chen Chao, the captain of the Oceanic Team, who was also born in 1991. At the same time, our entire research vessel team is also very young, and we also have echelons. For example, our third-tube wheel was born in 1998, and our system engineer was also born in 1998. He is already responsible for a piece of work. Therefore, we also attach great importance to the mentoring of polar expedition team members and the training of young team members.
htmlThe young people from Wuhan University who will not be absent from the 040 Antarctic expeditionThe Antarctic expedition team is composed of scientific expedition personnel from many domestic units. Among them, Wuhan University is the earliest university in China to participate in polar expeditions, the most frequently, and the largest number of scientific expedition team members. Since participating in the establishment of the China Antarctic Great Wall Scientific Expedition Station in 1984, generations of young teachers and students of Wuhan University have continued to work hard. They have overcome a series of technical problems in polar surveying and mapping and provided strong intellectual support for the scientific expedition.
Ai Songtao from the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University has participated in 16 Chinese Antarctic expeditions. When he first set foot on the Antarctic continent in 2002, he was still a 25-year-old graduate student. When Ai Songtao saw the rich and detailed map information about Antarctica from international colleagues, he wondered if the Chinese could do better.
Professor Ai Songtao, deputy director of the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University: I am thinking about how we can use our surveying, mapping and remote sensing informatization methods and use our geographical information technology to support informatized polar management services. I went to Beijing alone. I had an idea but no detailed plan.
Young Ai Songtao received support from the leaders of the competent department. Under the guidance of his mentor, he started writing code with a group of juniors and sisters who were younger than him.
Professor Ai Songtao, deputy director of the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University: At that time, we were young and worked day and night. We built a system in less than two years. At that time, it was called the China Polar Expedition Management Information System. It was also the first information system in this area in our country.
From an idea to a management system, from two dimensions to three dimensions, from historical data and file management to accurate and real-time situational awareness, the participation of more young people has also made this system continue to grow and become more and more powerful.
Professor Ai Songtao, deputy director of the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University: We now call it the polar situation awareness system, which is currently unique in the world.
Kong Jian, associate professor at the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University: It can record the routes of each expedition since China participated in the Antarctic scientific expedition.
Kong Jian participated in China’s 33rd Antarctic expedition from November 2016 to April 2017. He was 30 years old at that time.
Kong Jian, associate professor at the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University: We brought a Beidou receiver with us at that time, and collected Beidou tracking data around the Antarctic, which also filled the gap in Beidou data in the Antarctic.
Kong Jian’s first impression of the Antarctic continent was the severe cold weather. Using a mobile phone in Antarctica would quickly turn off the phone. In order to reduce the impact of weather on communications, he and his colleagues specially designed a dispatching and support equipment to increase resistance to severe cold weather. function.
Kong Jian, associate professor at the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University: After actually seeing and feeling it, when we came back to design this set of equipment, we raised all the waterproof and cold-proof levels. A charging interface for external power supply is also specially added to this device, which can be charged and used at any time.
Ke Hao was younger than Kong Jian when he participated in the Antarctic scientific expedition. In 2012, he was 28 years old. The first time he went there, he had a thrilling experience. In Antarctica, the data cable was connected from the host to the antenna. Because it had to pass through the insulated box, he and his colleagues drilled a small hole in the insulated box, which was so small that the data cable could barely pass through. . It was this move that almost ruined Ke Hao's data collection work.
Ke Hao, associate professor at the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University: After about a while, you go to get the incubator and when you open it, you will find that everything inside has been buried in snow. Snow melts and turns into water, which may cause a short circuit at the data cable interface.
Fortunately, it was discovered in time that no short circuit was caused, and the lesson learned this time became Ke Hao's biggest gain from his first trip to Antarctica. After returning to China, he and his colleagues discussed repeatedly, found a solution, and passed it on to his later students.
Ke Hao, associate professor at the China Antarctic Surveying and Mapping Research Center of Wuhan University: Every Antarctic scientific expedition will encounter problems that have never been encountered before. My teacher passed on his experience to me, and I in turn passed on his experience and my own experience. Pass to the young man behind. So I think the Antarctic scientific expedition is actually about groups of young people who continue to devote themselves to it and contribute to my country's Antarctic scientific expedition.
(CCTV News Client)
