The idea to use the
drift ice for the exploration of nature in the high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean came from
Fridtjof Nansen, who fulfilled it on
Fram between 1893 and 1896. The first stations to use drift ice as means of scientific exploration of the Arctic originated in the
Soviet Union in 1937, when the first such station in the world, North Pole-1, started operations. North Pole-1 was established on 21 May 1937 some 20 km from the
North Pole by the expedition into the high latitudes. Sever-1, led by
Otto Schmidt. "NP-1" operated for 9 months, during which the ice floe travelled 2,850 kilometres. On 19 February 1938, Soviet
ice breakers
Taimyr and
Murman took off four polar explorers from the station, who immediately became famous in the USSR and were awarded titles
Hero of the Soviet Union:
hydrobiologist Pyotr Shirshov, geophysicist
Yevgeny Fyodorov,
radioman
Ernst Krenkel and their leader
Ivan Papanin. Since 1954 Soviet NP stations worked continuously, with one to three such stations operating simultaneously each year. The total distance drifted between 1937 and 1973 was over 80,000 kilometres. North Pole-22 is particularly notable for its record drift, lasting nine years. On 28 June 1972 the ice floe with
North Pole-19 passed over the North Pole for the first time ever. During such long-term observations by NP stations numerous important discoveries in
physical geography were made such as valuable conclusions on regularities and the connection between processes in the polar region of the
Earth's
hydrosphere and
atmosphere and the deep water
Lomonosov Ridge, which crosses the Arctic Ocean, other large features of the ocean bottom's relief, the discovery of two systems of the drift (circular and "wash-out"), and the fact of
cyclones' active penetration into the
Central Arctic. The last Soviet NP station, North Pole-31, was closed in July 1991. In the post-Soviet era, Russian exploration of the Arctic by drifting ice stations was suspended for twelve years. The year 2003 was notable for Russia's return into the Arctic. , three NP stations had carried out scientific measurements and research since then: "NP-32" through "NP-34". The latter was closed on 25 May 2006. "NP-35" started operations on 21 September 2007 at the point , when flags of Russia and
Saint Petersburg were raised there. 22 scientists, led by A.A.Visnevsky are working on the ice floe. Establishment of the station was the third stage of the
Arktika 2007 expedition. An appropriate ice floe was searched for from
Akademik Fedorov research vessel, accompanied by
nuclear icebreaker Rossiya, using
MI-8 helicopters, for a week, until an ice floe with an area of 16 square kilometres was found. The ice has since shrunk significantly, however, and the station is now being abandoned ahead of schedule. ==Replacement==