Source: Xinhua

02-23-2009 11:15

BERLIN, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- German Minister of Education and Research Annette Schavan inaugurated the country's new Antarctic station -- Neumayer Station III which starts scientific operation on Friday.

After seven months of assembly in snowstorms and icy cold, the new 39-million German Antarctic research station Neumeyer III opens on Friday.(thelocal.de)

Schavan said it is a marvel of engineering and it will open anew era for the scientists on the ice, according to the report of German News Agency DPA.

The new research facility is located 6.5 km south of the old Neumayer Station on the Ekstroem ice shelf in Dronning Maud Land in the Antarctic, according to the website of the Alfred Wegener Institute, that runs the station.

The station will serve as a base for scientific observatories as well as logistic center for inland expeditions and polar aircraft.

"Neumayer Station III creates the prerequisites for long-term research and it is an important part of the international scientific and logistical collaboration in the Antarctic," explains Karin Lochte, director of the Alfred Wegener Institute.

The Neumayer Station III was erected during seven months in two Antarctic summer seasons by the Alfred Wegener Station for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association. It can offer accommodation for up to 40 people. Nine people ensure the year-round operation of the station. The expenditure of the project was about 40 million euros (about 50.37 million U.S. dollars) financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with long-term funds for polar research, and it was realized within the framework of the International Polar Year.