On June 6, 1937, the official opening of the world’s first drifting polar station, “North Pole-1,” took place
The first scientific research expedition of the “North Pole-1” polar drifting station was intended to conduct oceanographic, meteorological, and geophysical studies. The station, located on an ice floe measuring 3 by 5 kilometers, was led by Arctic explorer Ivan Papanin. Its team consisted of hydrologist Pyotr Shirshov, geophysicist-astronomer Yevgeny Fyodorov, and radio operator Ernst Krenkel. The “North Pole-1” station remained on the ice floe for 274 days. During this time, the ice floe drifted into the Greenland Sea, traveling 2,500 kilometers through the Arctic Ocean and the Greenland Sea. From the end of January 1938, the ice floe steadily diminished, and soon the polar explorers had to be evacuated. Evacuation […]