"If there are no strong winds, a Chilean Air Force plane will take us from the extreme point of Chile to the South Pole in about seven hours," head of the project, researcher-pilot Alexander Begak told RIA Novosti on the phone.
He said that right after the arrival in the Antarctic, the international youth team, which includes representatives of all former Soviet republics and Chile, under the leadership of mentors from the Gagarin Center of Cosmonauts'. Training will start the implementation of one of the projects of the expedition - creating Russian word "MIR" (Peace - in English) on the snowy surface of the coldest continent on Earth.
"First of all, the guys will attempt to spread a roll of red-color fabric to create a Latin letter "L" sized 450 by 500 meters. This letter, which symbolizes the beginning of an English word Life, is technically the easiest to create," Mr. Begak said.
"The word MIR, which the participants plan to create, will be photographed and sent via satellite communication channels to the ISS. The crew of the International Space Station then relay it though the Internet to various parts of the globe," Mr. Begak added.
In addition, the members of the expedition will participate in the first youth 2012-meter Olympic race symbolizing, according to organizers, the year of the 2012 Olympic Games, which Moscow is bidding to host.
