NASA uncovers hidden Cold War military base in Greenland

NASA discovers Cold War military base in Greenland

A team of NASA engineers aboard the Gulfstream III detected something buried under the ice sheet in Northwestern Greenland. NASA scientists didn't know what it was at first, until discovering it was Camp Century, a Cold War relic built by the United States in the 1950s and abandoned less than a decade later. The 'secret city' became visible via radar. So what is it, and what are the implications?Curious to know more? Click through the gallery!

Monitoring trip

In April 2024, a team of NASA scientists and engineers were conducting a monitoring trip aboard the aircraft Gulfstream III.

Defense of Greenland agreement

In 1951, the Defense of Greenland agreement was signed between the United States and Denmark, which is what allowed the United States to build the military base in the first place.

Radar used to measure distance

How did scientists find the site? Radar is able to measure the distance of what’s beneath a surface by sending out radio waves.

Mapping

The time that it takes for the radio waves to reflect back to the sensor allows for a mapping of what’s beneath the ice’s surface.

Conventional radar

This wasn’t the first time an aircraft had detected signs of the base, but in those surveys, the engineers used a conventional radar. That kind of radar creates a 2D profile of the ice sheet.

Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar

This time, the survey used NASA’s Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR), which was placed below the aircraft.

Layout designs

Following the survey, the map produced by the radar system was subsequently compared with historical designs of the base’s layout.

Mapping the ice

The goal of the survey was a test of the UAVSAR system, specifically to map the “ice sheet’s internal layer and the ice-bed interface.”

Network of tunnels

The military base, constructed in 1959, consisted of a stealthy network of tunnels constructed within Greenland's ice sheet. The project could have expanded to an additional 33 bases of a similar nature.

Testing site

The infamous nature of Camp Century is not just because of standard military activity, but due to its dual role as a testing site for nuclear missiles during the Cold War.

Buried under snow

When abandoned, the assumption was that the base would be buried under snowfall. What they failed to consider was climate change.

Ice will melt

Scientists argue that the ice sheet that covers Camp Century will start to melt within the next several decades. Today, the site is covered by just 30 meters (100 feet) of ice and snow.

Released waste

Radioactive, biological, and chemical waste released into the Arctic’s environment could have devastating effects on the region’s ecosystems.

Greenland owned by Denmark

Although the site is historically American, Greenland was colonized by Denmark, which retains control over the land. Therefore, Greenland wants to hold the Danes responsible for the impending environmental fallout.

Trump wants to buy Greenland

The impending Trump administration has already expressed interest in buying Greenland from Denmark to further exploit its resources.