17th Antarctic Pole Expedition FormedIt's learned from the State Oceanography Bureau that the 17th Antarctic Pole expedition team has been set up. There are two women among 37 team members. This is the first time that women are sent for exploration in the South Pole through the winter since the perennial expedition station was established in the South Pole in 1985.The two female team members are both 30-odd years old. Zhao Ping from the Pole Exploration Office of the State Oceanography Bureau will be in charge of the rear service of the Great Wall Station and Lin Qing is a surgeon from Tongren Hospital. Australia, Chile and other countries all have women team members living through the winter in the South Pole. China didn't decide to send women team members until this year. This is China's new attempt at pole exploration. This expedition is composed of 37 members, 22 of whom will fly to the Great Wall Station at the end of this year and the other 15 members will leave for the Zhongshan Station by an Australian expedition ship early next year. The only pole icebreaker of China, "Snow Dragon" won't go to the Antarctic Pole this year. Since 1994, it has made scientific expedition to the Antarctic Pole each year. |
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