Maitri (research station)

Maitri Station
Antarctic Research Station
An aerial view of the Indian Station Maitri, Antarctica on 2 February 2005
Maitri Station Location of Maitri Station in Antarctica
Coordinates: 70°46′00″S 11°43′53″E
Country	India
Location in Antarctica	Queen Maud Land Antarctica
Administered by	Indian Antarctic Program
Established	January 1989 (1989-01)
Elevation	130 m (430 ft)
Population
• Total	Up to 65
Type	All-year round
Period	Annual
Status	Operational

Maitri under construction with lake Indira Priyadarshini in background (1988)

Maitri is India's second permanent research station in Antarctica as part of the Indian Antarctic Programme. The name was suggested by the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi who was assassinated a month before the expedition left the shores of India on 3 December 1984. Work on the station was first started by the Indian Expedition which landed there in end Dec 1984, with a team led by Dr. B. B. Bhattacharya. Sqn Ldr D. P. Joshi, the surgeon of the team, was the first camp commander of the tentage at camp Maitri. The first huts were started by the IV Antarctica Expedition and completed in 1989, shortly before the first station Dakshin Gangotri was buried in ice and abandoned in 1990–91. Maitri is situated in the rocky mountainous region called Schirmacher Oasis. It is only 5 km away from the Russian Novolazarevskaya Station.

Facilities

An aerial view of the Indian Station Maitri, Antarctica on 2 February 2005

The station has modern facilities to research in various disciplines, such as biology, earth sciences, glaciology, atmospheric sciences, meteorology, cold region engineering, communication, human physiology, and medicine. It can accommodate 25 people for winter. Freshwater is provided through a freshwater lake named Lake Priyadarshini, in front of Maitri.

Airfield

ALCI Airbase Novo Runway
IATA: none ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type	Private
Operator	Antarctic Logistics Centre International (ALCI)
Serves	Novolazarevskaya and Maitri
Location	Dronning Maud Land
Opened	April 6, 2014 (2014-04-06)
Time zone	(UTC+3.30)
Coordinates	70°49′17″S 11°38′36″E
Map
ALCI Airbase Novo Runway Location of airfield in Antarctica
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 9,842 3,000 Blue Ice

A blue ice runway, located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away, operated by Antarctic Logistics Centre International (ALCI) serves the station and Novolazarevskaya.

See also

• Bharati Third Indian station 2012
• Dakshin Gangotri First Indian station 1983, converted to support base
• List of airports in Antarctica
• List of Antarctic research stations
• List of Antarctic field camps
• National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research
• Indian Antarctic Program

External links

• National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of Government of India