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American and Soviet scientists in Antarctica
Image Credit: Alexander Maksimov
Cold War Motivation
After the IGY concluded in 1958, scientific cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union did not continue. While research during the IGY was formally collaborative, scientific achievements also served as demonstrations of national prestige, reinforcing rivalry once the cooperative framework ended.
Arctic Militarization
Military expansion into the Arctic grew after the IGY. The Arctic's perceived value increased as international authority intensified (Luedtke & Howkins, 2012). Operations in the Arctic were desired due to IRS proximity to both the United States and the Soviet Union. The research conducted during the IGY improved understanding of missile trajectories and radar, allowing for the expansion of the Distant Early Warning line (DEW line) and overall increased military presence further north.
A DEW Line Station in Nunavut, equipt with the standard equipment at each station.
Image Credit: nwttimeline
Explore a top-secret US military project under the Greenland Ice Sheet in the dropdown below
CAMP CENTURY
CAMP CENTURY
Camp Century was built in 1959 by the United States military and consists of a network of tunnels under the ice sheet. It was a military scientific research centre that concealed Project Iceworm. This was a secret United States program for the Cold War that aimed to build nuclear launch sites underneath the Greenland ice sheet. Much of this work relied on discoveries from the IGY. It was abandoned in 1967 and now lies under ~30 m of snow (Christ, 2022).
Location of Camp Century in Greenland
Image Credit: USACE
Diagram of the base under the ice
Image Credit: Wikipedia
Ice Coring in the Greenland ice heet in Camp Century
Image Credit: USACE
Drilling in Camp Century
Drilling in Camp Century
Space Race Escalation
Space Race Escalation
NASA was established in 1958, partially in response to the successes of the Soviet Union's Sputnik satellites. (NASA, 2024). This sparked the intensification of the space race, with countries working quickly to put the first man into space, and eventually, on the moon. The advancements in space shifted to surveillance and missile systems, further heightening the tensions in the Cold War.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958.
Image Credit: NASA
Explore Other Consequences
Further Reading
Christ, A. (2022, January 28). Camp century re-visited: Sediment from the bottom of a Cold War ice core reveals Greenland’s warm past. Cryospheric Sciences. https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/cr/2022/01/28/camp-century-bottom-ice/
Luedtke, B., & Howkins, A. (2012). Polarized climates: The distinctive histories of climate change and politics in the Arctic and Antarctica since the beginning of the Cold War. WIREs Climate Change, 3(2), 145–159. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.161
NASA. (2024, August 22). 65 years ago: The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 creates NASA. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/history/65-years-ago-the-national-aeronautics-and-space-act-of-1958-creates-nasa/
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