SOVIET SHIFT OF SOVIET ANTARCTIC MAIN BASE TO OFFER ADVANTAGES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T01019A000200210001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 29, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 22, 1964
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 20 ~1 9T01019l00,Q200210001-5
GB 64-25
22 June 1964
SOVIET SHIFT OF SOVIET AT/{RCTIC MAID BASE
TO OM,% ADVANTAGES
The Soviet Union has announced that its Antarctic expedition headquarters
will be moved from its heretofore main station 14irnyy to its newest station
Molodezhnaya, 1100 n. miles to the vest. The shift is to be made by the Tenth
Soviet Antarctic Expedition in 1964-65.
The move has not been entirely unexpected and presages a major change
in the coverage of Soviet operations. The shift will simultaneously resolve
the problem of the intolerable physical deterioration at the main base and
place the USSR in an ideal location to expand prestige-building operations
into the last major research-gap area of Antarctica between 20?W and 60?E.
With Molodezhnaya at 67?S-?E, and Novolazaryevscaya at 70046's and 11?50'E,
the USSR will be in an advantageous position to gain not only the benefits
of basic research but also a substantial favorable input into Soviet "peaceful
competition" objectives .... especially in the Southern Hemisphere -- that
accrue from the publication of original research, and the perpetuation of
Soviet geographic discoveries through Soviet names on maps and in various
subsequent mass-media accounts. Activity in this research-gap area had
already begun this past austral summer (1953-64) when geophysicist Andrey
Kapitsa led a 1- traverse throu& nntrodden areas on a 1728 n. mile
DistributionW~For OCI
Prepared by PM 69.1391J Release 2OO4M)4/27 ?dlA-I bP79T
 Approved For Release 20e" E# [ 79T01019A0O0O0200210001-5
traverse from Vostok to Holodezh: .ya via the "tole of Inaccessibility" station.
Mirnyy, initially selected because of the presence of to sizeable rock
outcrops, proved to be a poor site owing to the high winds, heavy snows, and
the rapid movement of the continental glacier in the area. Coupled with the
narrow spacing of the buildings, which impedes rapid annual snow removal, the
buildings after nine years have become covered to a degree that substantial
rebuilding investments would be required. The Soviets also have found that
the drifting snow has adversely affected instruments located in the open.
Molodezhnaya, on the other band, had been first spotted by a Soviet ship-
based surveying and mapping operation in March 19>7, and was initially
occupied by a susner team during the Seventh Expedition's operations in the
austral summer of 1961-62. The following season, 1963_64, the Soviets
installed the first two perm went structures and began their year-round
operations. Molodezhnaya offers the advantages of greater protection from
winds, less snow, and easier unloading on stronger ice.
Mirnyy will not be closed down, at least not in the ianediate future,
since it is necessary for the supply of the interior station Vostok at the
South Geomagnetic Pole. Continued operation of Vostok by the Tenth Expedi-
tion is indicated in plans to deliver a new ionospheric station.
In time, if the intercontinental delivery of key personnel and low-bulk
supplies becomes an annual certainty at Molodezhnaya, the Mirnyy station may
be reduced to a lower-level or eummer-scason activity.
Sources: FBIS, No. 119, 18 June 1964
(TABS International Service in English, 1029 GMT, 17 June 1964)
New York Times, 19 June 1964
GROUP 1
Approved For Release 2001/ e 0 ngrad'0, iw. 10001-5
aa~ramn ~..-
Ii~Ctas9fii~dii9
 Approved For Release 2001/04/27 : CIA-RDP79TO1019A000200210001-5
oft
to offer
To pre a b1 3.' analpta at the causes ar
of the ibift of the ftvtat Antarctic head
Rimy to its WWOA
69
(CI GB 64-Z)
'' .FI E'~u L
eiv
'At
25X1A
Approved For Release 2001/04/27 : CIA-RDP79TO1019A000200210001-5