Molodyozhnaya Station (Antarctica)
Coordinates: 67°40′S 45°50′E / 67.667°S 45.833°E
Molodyozhnaya (Russian: Молодёжная, "Youth") (also known as "Molodezhnaya") was a Soviet, then Russian research station in East Antarctica at 67°40′S 45°50′E. After being mothballed in 1990, it was reopened in 2006 to operate on a seasonal basis. The station is sometimes referred to as the capital of Antarctica.
Molodyozhnaya Station is located in the Thala Hills, 500–600 meters inland from the coast on the southern shore of Alasheyev Bight in the Cosmonaut Sea, at 42 meters above sea level. The area around the station is composed mostly of rocky ridges separated by snow-covered depressions and lakes. The sea near the station is covered in pack ice for much of the year, out to a distance of as much as 100 km at the end of winter. The rise to the summit of the massive East Antarctic Ice Sheet (Dome A) begins 1.5-2.0 km from the shore. Kheis Glacier is located in 15 km east of the station, and Campbell Glacier is roughly the same distance to the southwest.
The average temperature varies from −19 °C in the coldest months (July–August), to around 0 °C in January.
The site was opened in February 1962, and used as a launch site for suborbital meteorological sounding rockets. From 25 May 1969 and 26 December 1990, 1104 M-100 model research sounding rockets were launched from Molodyozhnaya Station. On 28 February 1979, the MMR06 model was launched from Molodyozhnaya. This was the only instance of this model rocket being launched from Molodyozhnaya Station.
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