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“Arctic Trefoil is a military base of the Russian Federation on the island of Alexandra Land in the Franz Josef Land archipelago, near the village of Nagurskoye. The main task of the base is to provide air defense.
The base includes the world's northernmost permanent building - an administrative and residential complex. The base is the second military facility built in the Arctic to house air defense units of the Russian Northern Fleet. The first was the Northern Clover military base on Kotelny Island in the New Siberian Islands archipelago.
The administrative and residential complex of the base consists of four blocks of the main five-story building and three separate “ellipses” connected to it by heated covered galleries. The total area of the complex is 14,000 m2. The buildings of the complex are painted in the colors of the Russian flag. The administrative and residential complex is designed for autonomous living and performance of official tasks by a garrison of 150 people for 18 months, which is provided by food and fuel storage facilities.
The main building of the administrative and residential complex has a three-pointed star shape in plan, which is where the name of the base came from. It stands on stilts buried in permafrost, and is blown from below, so it is not covered with snow even during strong storms. The heated lower floor is technical, intended for communications. In the center of the building (block G), at the intersection of the beams, there is an atrium, above the central support of which (which is also a flagpole) there is a glass observation deck from which the entire territory of the base is monitored.
In the “ellipses” located between the “rays” of the central building and the galleries connected to it, there are:
-in one there is an infirmary, a gym and an assembly hall;
-in the second there is a dining room with a kitchen and food storage;
- in the third there are command offices and classrooms; this is where the main entrance to the premises of the military base is located (although there are technical exits to the street in each building).
In addition to the main building of the administrative and residential complex, the base includes:
-diesel power plant of four blocks with a total capacity of 4 thousand kilowatts;
-water treatment station for 700 tons of water obtained by disinfecting snow in snow-melting installations SPU-15;
-onshore pumping station for replenishing fuel supplies - receiving fuel and lubricants from the tanker and pumping them to the warehouse;
- sewerage treatment facilities with a wastewater reception and accumulation unit;
- thermal waste treatment complex;
- heated garages for military equipment.
The technical buildings are connected to the administrative and residential complex by a system of covered galleries, which allows the personnel of the military base not to go outside in adverse weather. There is also an Orthodox chapel at the base, built of wood."
originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: theatreboy
It's a scientific research base, and if the studies involve the lake below then certain scientific instruments and equipment may require testing or calibration in a controlled pressure environment.
The pressure chamber could provide a suitable setting for such purposes if they are planing on sending probes or scientific packages under the ice.
originally posted by: Xtrozero
I flew to Antarctica for many years from 1985 to 1995, we would drop off and pick up the scientist for the summer event. We staged out of Christchurch, and it was called Operation Deep Freeze. We would land on an ice runway at McMurdo station. Two cool things there, no pun intended, is there is an active volcano nearby and it looks like the traditional squared-off top with smoke coming out. The other thing to see is Commander Scott had a hut there and you would just walk on in it and see all the supplies still there and even blubber stacked up. It was always a fun mission.
originally posted by: stonerwilliam
Ever fly a former astronaut out
originally posted by: FlyersFan
I've always wanted to go to antarctica. I know I"ll never get there. It's too expensive to go. And now I"m too old to travel like that. It looks stunning in the pictures. I'd love to see a penguin colony. Lucky scientists.
originally posted by: CarlLaFong
It's getting pretty crowded down there.