NoHassle
Well-known member
Founded in 1957, the station received its futuristic makeover in 2024, replacing an aging complex largely buried under snow.
Russia’s only operational inland Antarctic research station, Vostok, is around 3,500 meters above sea level and 1,400-1,500 km from the coast, in the planet’s notorious ‘Pole of Cold’. It holds the world record for the lowest directly measured air temperature – a bone-chilling -89.2 C (-128.6 F), recorded on July 21, 1983.
Footage posted on X on Saturday – which shows the station’s exterior painted in blue and the colors of the Russian flag, almost entirely cloaked in snow and frost – received over a million views in just two days before spreading to Instagram and Facebook.
“This place looks like it’s straight out of a sci-fi game! Just imagine: working there at a temperature of -89 C. Simply unbelievable,”
Spanning over 3,000 square meters, the station houses up to 35 people in summer and 15 in winter, offering private rooms, laboratories, a gym, sauna, recreation areas, a medical center with an operating room, and other amenities. Insulation up to 95 cm thick, Russian-made heating and power systems, heat recovery, water recycling, and multiple backups help sustain operations, with food and fuel reserves sufficient for two years.
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