Soviet Antarctic Expedition
The Soviet Antarctic Expedition (SAE or SovAE) ([Советская Антарктическая Экспедиция, САЭ] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) was part of the Arctic and Antarctic Scientific Research Institute of the Soviet Committee on Antarctic Research of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
The Soviet Ministry of Sea Transport was responsible for the administration, logistics and supply of expeditions.
The first Soviet contact with Antarctica was in 1946 when Soviet whaling ships were whaling in Antarctic waters.
Stations
The first Soviet Antarctic station, Mirny was established near the coast on 13 February, 1956. This was added to in December 1957 by another station, Vostok built inland near the south geomagnetic pole.
Year-round stations
- Mirny (established February 13, 1956)
- Vostok (established December 16, 1957)
- Novolazarevskaya (established January 18, 1961)
- Molodezhnaya (established January 14 1963)
- Bellingshausen (established February 22 1968)
- Leningradskaya (established February 25, 1971)
- Russkaya (established March 9, 1980)
- Progress (established April 1, 1988)
Summer stations
- Komsomolskaya (established November 6 1957)
- Pionerskaya (established May 27 1956)
- Druzhnaya I (on the Filchner Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea)
- Druzhnaya II (on the Weddell Sea)
IGY stations
List of stations in use during the International Geophysical Year.
Expeditions
The Soviet Union engaged in expeditions to Antarctica from 1955 to its collapse, after the collapse, the Soviet Antarctic stations were taken over by Russia.
See also
References
- Boczek, B. A. "The Soviet Union and the Antarctic Regime" in The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 78, No. 4 (Oct., 1984), pp. 834-858