The Polar museum to run from 15 to 19 of May in Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre

The grand opening of the mobile polar museum, The Role of HISTORY in life and in business to be held on May 17 at 3 pm. It is timed to the 70th anniversary of two heroic expeditions: the first Soviet drifting station, the North Pole-1, with O. Schmidt and I. Papanin, as well as heroic flights of V. Chkalov and M. Gromov over the North Pole.

From 15 to 19 of May, the museum to run near pavilions of Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre. The entrance to the museum is free.
The historical and patriotic museum includes more than 300 exhibits including the unique ones. It presents household items, personal belongings of the polar explorers, 200 photos, video chronicles and archival documents. The museum is organized by MVK Company.The project author Alexey Shaburov said that the museum was hosted by partners who helped make the collection including Papanin’s Museum (Yaroslavl region), the Memorial Museum n.a. Chkalov (Ulyanovsk region.), Murmansk Regional Museum, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Russian State Museum of Arctic and Antarctic (St. Petersburg), Central Museum of the Russian Air Force and Museum of Defense of Sebastopol (the Ukraine), Foundation for the Support of Non-fiction Films n.a. R. Carmen, Krasnogorsk State Archives, the Association of Polar Explorers, as well as Snowstorm team for women expeditions and Schmidt’s, Papanin’s and Vodopianov’s relatives.

“This museum will remind all generations, and most importantly, tell young people about the exploits of the Soviet polar explorers and pilots. It will reliably reconstruct the events of those years, the history of the Arctic exploration. I am glad that today people remember history of the Soviet Union and Russia, that patriotic spirit is felt and it will only benefit our state”, said Vladimir O. Schmidt, the son of polar explorer Otto Schmidt, about the idea.

The museum started at the North Pole, where the heroic drift of legendary Papanin’s quartet began. On April 23, 2007 MVK Company left for the Pole. At the point of “zero” the world’s first exhibition at the North Pole opened and became a bright page in the International Polar Year. The expedition flew on the route Moscow – Spitsbergen (Norway) – The North Pole. Victor Boyarsky led members of the expedition to the North Pole. Flags of Russia and MVK soared over the pole. Two tents – an exact copy of Papanin’s and on ein colors of the Russian flag – were set up. By the way, one of the finest cellists the world over, Mstislav Rostpopovich scholarship holder, Denis Shapovalov was the first in the world who performed at the North Pole.

Recall, on May 21, 1937 four heavy planes landed on an ice floe. On June 6, the Soviet flag blushed at the top of the world. The expedition, with its leader Otto Schmidt flew to the mainland. The station chief Ivan Papanin, a meteorologist, geophysicist Evgeny Fyodorov, hydro-biologist, glaciologist Peter Shirshov and radioman Ernst Krenkel stayed on the ice floe. Great scientific work was carried out on the SP-1. The first discovery was the depth of water beneath the ice – 4,290 meters. They sampled the soil, measured the depth and the drift velocity, determined coordinates; measured magnetic, hydrological and meteorological observations. Soon they understood drift of the ice floe. For 9 months of work the SP-1 passed about 2,500 kilometers from the North Pole to the Greenland Sea on the ice floe. The station was evacuated on February 19, 1938 by the Taimyr and Murman ice-breakers.

Natalia Yurchenko
Press Secretary to the Director-General
Tel.: +7 495 995 0595