Icebreaker, satellite and stations bridge polar research gap

The people who overcame numerous difficulties to establish China's first scientific research outpost in Antarctica, Changcheng Station, 34 years ago were unlikely to have considered the possibility of turning it into a tourist attraction.

That's because the southernmost continent was, for many years, as distant as Mars to Chinese scientists, let alone ordinary travelers. China was the last of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to establish an Antarctic station and was embarrassed at an international Antarctic research meeting before Changcheng Station came into being.

Aware of the huge gap between itself and other world powers in terms of polar research and development capabilities, China has spared no efforts over the past three decades to catch up, and has made some remarkable achievements.

It now has five research stations in polar regions - Changcheng, Zhongshan, Taishan and Kunlun in Antarctica and Huanghe in the Arctic. There is also a China-Iceland Arctic Science Observatory in the Arctic.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Natural Resources released a set of guidelines for tourism agencies wanting to organize visits to Changcheng Station.

Observers said the move indicated that China wanted to enable its people to get closer to the country's polar research endeavors and to increase public awareness of that field.

China is now building a fifth scientific research station in Antarctica, which it intends to put into service around 2022.

The unnamed station on Inexpressible Island in Terra Nova Bay will be capable of accommodating 80 people in summertime and 30 in wintertime, according to the Polar Research Institute of China.

China has conducted 35 expeditions to Antarctica and nine to the Arctic, obtaining a great deal of scientific data and many samples.

To support its expanding presence and increasing expeditions, China recently commissioned its second - and first domestically built - research icebreaker, Xuelong 2, or Snow Dragon 2.

The Ministry of Natural Resources said Xuelong 2 will enable China to better support its polar research and expeditions.

Qin Weijia, director of the ministry's polar expedition office, said Xuelong 2, one of the world's best research icebreakers, is expected to allow Chinese scientists to extend their stay in polar regions and help the country narrow the gap with polar research powers like the United States.

Xuelong 2 is 122.5 meters long, 22.3 meters wide, and has a displacement of 13,996 metric tons. With a maximum speed of 15 knots, or 27.8 kilometers per hour, the icebreaker can sail more than 37,000 kilometers in a single voyage and sustain 60-day expeditions with 90 crew members and researchers, according to its builder, China State Shipbuilding Corp.

Incorporating state-of-the-art design and advanced equipment, Xuelong 2 is capable of operating in any ocean around the world.

It is equipped with world-class oceanographic survey and monitoring apparatus, allowing experts to carry out research into polar regions' physical oceanography, biodiversity, and atmospheric and environmental conditions, and also conduct fishery resources surveys.

Wu Gang, chief designer of the icebreaker, said it can break ice 1.5 meters thick while traveling at 2 to 3 knots, and can operate in temperatures as low as -30 C.

Before the delivery of Xuelong 2, China operated a single icebreaker, Xuelong, which was designed for cargo transportation rather than scientific research operations when it was built in Ukraine in 1993. Xuelong was purchased by China, converted into a polar research and resupply vessel, and has carried out dozens of scientific expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.

Wu said Chinese researchers have begun design work on a next-generation icebreaker that will be even more advanced than Xuelong 2.

He said it will be able to break ice about 3 meters thick and operate in temperatures as low as-45 C.

China placed its first polar observation satellite into space earlier this month in another move to strengthen the nation's polar research capabilities.

BNU 1, also known as Ice Pathfinder, is tasked with observing and monitoring climate and the environment in the Antarctic and the Arctic.

Its designers said the satellite will help end China's heavy reliance on Western satellites for images and data from polar regions, giving a significant boost to its polar and global environmental research capabilities.