NASA Scientists Discover Old American Military Base Under Greenland Ice

greenland - During a research flight over Greenland, scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory discovered an old American military base known as Camp Century, which was part of Project Iceworm during the Cold War.

During an April 2024 research flight from the Pituffik base in Greenland, a NASA Gulfstream III aircraft equipped with radar instruments aimed to map the depth of the Greenland ice cap and the underlying rock. However, the scientists stumbled upon an old, American military base during this flight. Camp Century was established as part of Project Iceworm during the Cold War with the goal of creating an underground city to house over 4,000 kilometers of tunnels for firing medium-range ballistic missiles at the Soviet Union.

Chad Greene, a cryosphere scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), expressed surprise at the discovery, stating, "We were conducting ice research when Camp Century appeared. Initially, we didn't know what it was. The new data reveal individual structures within the secret city in unprecedented clarity."

Construction of Camp Century began in 1959 but was halted about eight years later due to high costs and the challenges posed by the icy landscape. Currently, the structure is believed to be buried at least 30 meters beneath the ice. Scientists are intrigued by the potential resurfacing of the underground city due to climate change. Camp Century serves as a warning and reference point for measuring the impact of our changing climate on regions like the Greenland ice cap.

Alex Gardner, another cryosphere scientist at JPL, emphasized the importance of detailed ice thickness knowledge for predicting how ice caps will respond to rapidly warming oceans and atmosphere. This lack of understanding limits our ability to forecast the rate of sea level rise.