international
polar
foundation

As project director and chief engineer of the Princess Elisabeth station construction, Alain Hubert, founding president of the International Polar Foundation (IPF), presents the genesis of the IPF and of the Princess Elisabeth project (Copyright credits: IPF and CAPA TV). The construction of the first "zero emission" research station would not have been possible without the contribution of project manager, Johan Berte, program administrator Nighat Amin, and the station's dedicated and supportive volunteers, engineering team, contractors, advisors, cooperating institutes and organisations, suppliers and collaborating sponsors.

The last stage of the construction involves laying the insulation layer against the building, including down on the floor. This work requires a lot of precision and an insulated layer of high quality. The material measures 40 cm thick and covers over 400 m2.

Far more than a mere symbol of Belgium's return to Antarctica, the Princess Elisabeth Station is first and foremost an Antarctic research station. As such, it welcomes scientists from everywhere around the globe to conduct scientific research in the Sør Rondanes. For this year, besides the JARE 51 program, the station has welcomed:Elie Verleyen (University of Ghent), and Steve Roberts (BAS) for their research on cosmogenic particles;Zorigto Namsaraev and Josef Elster, for their study of the microbiology in the area, continuing the work of BELDIVA from last year;Irina Gorodetskaya (KULeuven), for the preparation of the installation of meteorological instruments around the station.In this capsule, these scientists take you with them in the field. You will thus be able to see Steve Roberts and Elie Verleyen take rock samples, while Josef Elster and Zorigto Namsaraev head to a cryoconite field to sample micro-organisms. We then accompany Irina Gorodetskaya, before going back to Steve and Elie on an icy lake at Utsteinen to conduct a radar survey.

"When I look at it, I tell myself that it isn't possible. It's still a dream. But it's not! Mission accomplished." Those were the words of Alain Hubert, general supervisor of the project, about completing the first phase of the station's construction.

The Ivan Papanin, used to transport the equipment and material needed to build the station, is an Ice-class cargo ship. To reach Antarctica, the ship had to break the ice that covers the ocean several times. After having left Cape Town, the first stop along her trip was near the Norwegian Troll Station. Here is some footage filmed during the ship's journey to Troll station.

Frank Pattyn is a Glaciologist and Ice Sheet Modeler at the Glaciological Laboratory of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (Université Libre de Bruxelles). Travelling to Antarctica for the seventh time, he will be heading the BELISSIMA (BELgian Ice Sheet-Shelf Ice Measurements in Antarctica) project with colleague Jean-Louis Tison.

Having returned from their field campaign in the Sør Rondanes, the team of the Japanese JARE 51 expedition, along with Steven Goderis from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, is able to reflect on a successful meteorite exploration. With the largest sample weighing over 5 kilograms, the team is delighted with the discovery of some extraordinary examples.They have been greeted at Utsteinen by Alain Hubert, who provided both warm welcome and celebratory drink to the success of the 2009-2010 campaign, during which they gratefully received the full support of the BELARE team.

The last containers carrying the last missing parts of the station such as the walls or the ceilings or some other technical part such as the bioreactors or the cabinets are slowly arriving in Utsteinen from the coast.

Guests who arrived to attend the inauguration of the Princess Elisabeth station were welcomed by the shining sun. With such nice weather, the inauguration ceremony was moved from 6:00 P.M. to 1:00 p.m. After a short speech and an inaugural ceremony, the guests proceeded to take a tour of the station