Casey station

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Coordinates: 66 ° 17 '  S , 110 ° 32'  E

Relief Map: Antarctica
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Casey station​
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Antarctic
Oblique aerial view of Casey Station
Map of the northern Windmill Islands with the Bailey Peninsula and the Casey Station on it (below)

The Casey Station is an Australian research station on the Budd Coast in the eastern part of Antarctica .

history

Until 1959 the station was named Wilkes Station under the leadership of the USA . In 1964, the research station was taken over by Australia and rebuilt about two kilometers south, on the Bailey Peninsula . When it was completed in 1969, it was named after Richard Casey, Baron Casey (1890–1976), a great supporter of Australian Antarctic exploration. At that time, the station was one of the most modern in Antarctica, with sleeping quarters and research buildings connected by a corrugated iron tunnel. However, the increasing corrosion caused greater damage and high costs, so that in the 1980s, the Australian stations were equipped with steel frames and other durable materials.

Current state

The current 16 buildings of the station were opened in 1988, the old ones of the tunnel station were demolished in 1989. The main building is the so-called Red Shed. Apartments, social rooms and the trade fair are housed here. There are also buildings for warehousing (“Store” in the “Green Shet”), scientific work (“Science Building”), vehicles, power generation and water generation. The latter contains a whirlpool, which is operated with the waste heat from water production.

Civil flight connection

Since December 2007 there has been a civil aviation connection via the Wilkins Runway to Blaueis , which is around 70 km from the station and four kilometers long and 100 meters wide. It was named after Hubert Wilkins , who flew over parts of Antarctica in 1928. Landing takes place on a surface of ice and snow. For this purpose, the slope is regularly measured and smoothed with the help of laser beams . Construction took three years and cost € 30 million.

The landing of an Airbus A319 on December 10, 2007 was the first landing of a passenger aircraft in Antarctica. Since then there has been a weekly scheduled flight from Hobart in Australia with an A319 operated by Skytraders . This flight takes four and a half hours. Previously, the travelers had to rely on a two-week cruise. The flight connection does not serve tourism, but the transfer of researchers and employees to the station.

Passenger aircraft overflights over Antarctica have existed since the 1970s, when Air New Zealand flight 901 crashed on November 28, 1979 on Mount Erebus, 2200 km away .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "The Tunnel" 1970 - Australian Antarctic Division ( Memento from June 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Picture of the Australian Antarctic Division ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Commons : Casey Station  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files