it was built by the legendary polar explorer and geographer mikhail somov.the diesel electric ship op we approached the coast of the davis sea. it was necessary to unload onto loose ice, and then lift the loads onto the icy shore, the height of a five-story building. we carried out aerial reconnaissance, found a place for construction, equipped a radio center, magnetic and seismic pavilions, buildings for a laboratory and housing. scientists worked in extreme conditions, thin air, hurricane winds -40. mirnaya station has long served as the main base of our antarctic expeditions, from here caravans departed for the inland station vostok. today , a group of polar explorers remain here, continuing scientific research. exactly half a century ago, on february 13, 1974, alexander solzhenitsyn was expelled from the soviet union. he came from a peasant family, a front-line soldier, arrested in 1945 for criticizing stalin. after release. became one of the founders of camp prose, his story, one day of ivan denisovich , pleased khrushchev, was published and brought the