Expedition members from Jilin University pose for a picture during the departure ceremony held inside the campus at Changchun, Jilin Province, on Oct. 29, 2015. (Photo : Xinhua)
Five people from northeast China’s Jilin University have been selected to go on China’s 32nd Antarctic expedition, which is scheduled to set off from Shanghai this weekend, the official website of Jilin Province announced on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The team is comprised of lead teacher Fan Xiaopeng and four students who had undergone a strict selection process in Tibet earlier in July this year to ensure they can bear the tough freezing Antarctic environment.
Fan, who previously participated in the 28th and 29th expeditions, said that the latest expedition will serve to test their equipment in the field.
"We will also take our university's own drilling equipment to areas near the Zhongshan Station to test it," he added.
The university has previously sent teams in the past three expeditions to Antarctica, although this will be the first time that team members will be bringing some of their own equipment.
"I feel so lucky and thankful to go to Antarctica, a dreamlike, unapproachable world for so many people," said Liu Bowen, a member of the Jilin group who will celebrate his 25th birthday during the trek.
The five will be part of a 277-member expedition team that will sail on the Chinese icebreaker "Xuelong" (Snow Dragon) on Saturday, Nov. 7, for a six-month excursion around the Chinese stations of Changcheng, Zhongshan, Taishan and Kunlun in the Antarctic landmass as well as in the neighboring Ross Sea and Amundsen Sea.
According to Sun Bo, the deputy chief of the Antarctic expedition, the team will conduct polar research around the stations, assess the ecological and environmental impact of these sites, remove and transport garbage from past expeditions, and help ship cargo to Australia.
The expedition will also see China's first fixed-wing aircraft designed for polar flight conduct trials in the Antarctic region while carrying out pilot airborne remote sensing and telemetry tasks, Sun added.
