NASA discovers Cold War-era military base buried beneath Greenland’s ice using UAVSAR radar technology
- By Nuadox Crew -
NASA scientists have uncovered Camp Century, a long-abandoned U.S. military base buried 100 feet under Greenland's ice sheet.
Built secretly between 1959 and 1960 during the Cold War, Camp Century was a network of 21 underground tunnels spanning 9,800 feet, nicknamed “the city under the ice.” While officially a scientific research station, it served as a front for a larger project, Project Iceworm, which planned to deploy nuclear missiles beneath the ice. However, the missile plan was never implemented, and the base was soon abandoned.
Despite its short lifespan, Camp Century left behind significant waste, including thousands of gallons of nuclear material, which remains trapped under the ice. The discovery was made during an April 2024 NASA flight over the Greenland Ice Sheet, where scientists were using UAVSAR radar technology to study the ice's bed. This advanced imaging system, which utilizes radio waves rather than laser light, revealed the base’s layout, including many identifiable structures. The find adds to the growing list of historical artifacts unearthed from the ice, highlighting both the legacy of Cold War-era projects and their lingering environmental challenges.
Header image credit: Heidi Baun Topp from Pixabay
Read more at Popular Mechanics
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