Russian Holidays - Polar Explorer Day

Polar explorer. A beautiful, capacious word that personifies not just a profession, but the way of life of people who find themselves in extreme situations every day. But despite this, living is interesting, fulfilling, and meaningful. A polar explorer must be able to do many things, in addition to his profession, love harsh romance, and constantly be on the alert. Do not forget about honesty, decency, responsibility. It is to such people that the holiday is dedicated - Polar Explorer Day in Russia. The holiday is young, young at heart, just like the people to whom it is addressed. The initiator of annually honoring and celebrating the hard work of people living in permafrost was Arthur Chilingarov, who is the special representative of the president in the Arctic. Surely many polar explorers are grateful to A. Chilingarov for raising the issue in December 2012 about the well-deserved recognition of their significant work. And the President did not keep him waiting long for his decision and already on May 1, 2013, he signed decree number 502. Since then, May 21 has been an official holiday for all Russian polar explorers. It is worth noting that the date was chosen for a reason. Following historical facts, it was on May 21 that the first polar drifting station began its difficult journey. In 1937 it was called “North Pole”, then changed its name to “SP-1”. The purpose of the scientific survey expedition was to explore the territories of the Far North. O. Schmidt led the expedition, and Ivan Papanin was directly responsible for the base, which was located on an island plot of Franz Josef Land. The very first polar explorers carried out oceanographic, geophysical and meteorological measurements and research. The polar explorers completed the difficult journey in 274 days. The ice floe repeatedly cracked and broke. The expedition ended on May 19, and the data obtained by the first brave researchers was extremely important for the country. Nowadays, polar stations are equipped with modern equipment, and they are not so alone in the ocean. Russian polar explorers often coexist with researchers from other countries. And what is most important at the stations is mutual assistance, understanding, and support. How else? At the end of the world there is simply no other way! The essence and purpose of the work remained unchanged. So responsible, dangerous and historically important.