Posted on Nov 30, 2024
NASA radar picks up frozen, buried Cold War base Camp Century
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The Cold War was full of ambitious and often strange projects. Case in point: Camp Century, the US Army’s subterranean nuclear apocalypse bunker built inside Greenland’s near-surface ice sheet. Construction on the sprawling underground facility began in 1959 under the auspices of a polar research site, but while experts did collect the first-ever ice core samples there, its larger purpose was far more in keeping with the times. In all, project leaders planned for 52,000 square miles of tunnels capable of housing both personnel and nuclear weaponry not far from Russian borders.
NASA radar picks up frozen, buried Cold War base Camp Century
Posted from popsci.com
Greenland
NASA
Cold War
Posted 11 d ago
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Camp Century was indeed a remarkable and somewhat eccentric project during the Cold War. Here are the key points to verify your statement:
- **Location and Purpose**: Camp Century was constructed in Greenland's ice sheet. Officially, it was promoted as a scientific research station under the "cover" of the U.S. Army Polar Research and Development Center. However, its primary purpose was military, part of a secret operation called "Project Iceworm," which aimed to place medium-range ballistic missiles close to the Soviet Union.
- **Construction**: Construction began in 1959. The base was built using a "cut-and-cover" method, where trenches were dug in the ice, covered, and then packed with snow to form tunnels.
- **Size and Structure**: The complex was planned to expand into a vast network of tunnels covering 52,000 square miles, though this was never fully realized. At its peak, it had about 21 tunnels extending nearly 3,000 feet, housing various facilities including living quarters, a hospital, a chapel, a theater, and scientific research areas.
- **Nuclear Weapons**: Although the plan was to house nuclear missiles there, this never came to fruition. The idea was to use the ice sheet's mobility to periodically move launch sites, making them less predictable and harder to target.
- **Scientific Contributions**: Despite its military focus, Camp Century did contribute to science by taking the first ice cores from the Greenland ice sheet, which have been invaluable for understanding climate history.
- **End**: The base was abandoned in 1967 due to the ice's unexpected shifting, which compromised the structural integrity of the tunnels. Equipment and nuclear reactors were left behind, leading to concerns about environmental impact.
Your description captures the essence and ambition of Camp Century, highlighting both its strategic military purpose and its scientific endeavors. However, the actual scale of the tunnel network was much less than planned, and the nuclear missile deployment part of the project was never implemented.
- **Location and Purpose**: Camp Century was constructed in Greenland's ice sheet. Officially, it was promoted as a scientific research station under the "cover" of the U.S. Army Polar Research and Development Center. However, its primary purpose was military, part of a secret operation called "Project Iceworm," which aimed to place medium-range ballistic missiles close to the Soviet Union.
- **Construction**: Construction began in 1959. The base was built using a "cut-and-cover" method, where trenches were dug in the ice, covered, and then packed with snow to form tunnels.
- **Size and Structure**: The complex was planned to expand into a vast network of tunnels covering 52,000 square miles, though this was never fully realized. At its peak, it had about 21 tunnels extending nearly 3,000 feet, housing various facilities including living quarters, a hospital, a chapel, a theater, and scientific research areas.
- **Nuclear Weapons**: Although the plan was to house nuclear missiles there, this never came to fruition. The idea was to use the ice sheet's mobility to periodically move launch sites, making them less predictable and harder to target.
- **Scientific Contributions**: Despite its military focus, Camp Century did contribute to science by taking the first ice cores from the Greenland ice sheet, which have been invaluable for understanding climate history.
- **End**: The base was abandoned in 1967 due to the ice's unexpected shifting, which compromised the structural integrity of the tunnels. Equipment and nuclear reactors were left behind, leading to concerns about environmental impact.
Your description captures the essence and ambition of Camp Century, highlighting both its strategic military purpose and its scientific endeavors. However, the actual scale of the tunnel network was much less than planned, and the nuclear missile deployment part of the project was never implemented.
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