The expedition in numbers
Facts and figures about the largest Arctic research expedition in history:
The factsheet on MOSAiC sustainability is available as PDF here.
The MOSAiC factsheet "The expedition in numbers" is also available for download.
The expedition‘s duration was 389 days.
During the expedition, RV Polarstern was resupplied by 6 additional icebreakers and research ships from Russia and Germany.
Thoughout the year, a total of 442 experts travelled to the Arctic, and were exchanged in phases.
The following 20 nations are involved in the expedition:
See 20 nations
During her first drift Polarstern reaches 88°36’ North, just 156 kilometres from the North Pole.
The Polarstern spent more than 10 months of the expedition frozen solid in the ice.
The MOSAiC team conducted research on the first MOSAiC floe for 300 days.
For a further 30 days, the team conducted research on the floe 2.0.
Polarstern was up to 1500 km from the nearest human settlement.
Polarstern drifted a 3400 km on a zigzagging course.
The MOSAiC floe was only 30 cm thick beneath former melt ponds, but its solid core was up to several metres thick.
247 monitoring stations drifted as far as 50 km from Polarstern.
More than 60 polar bears were sighted near the Polarstern.
-42.3 °C, the lowest temperature encountered on the expedition, was reached on 10 March 2020.
36,278 m: the altitude of the highest measurements taken in the atmosphere.
4,297 m: the deepest point in the ocean at which the expedition took measurements.
More than 300 people worked in the background to make the expedition possible.
The average age of participating researchers was 39 years.
The expedition's operating costs alone were roughly 200000 Euro per day (not including the costs for the instruments or researchers).
To date, there has never been a comparable expedition in the central Arctic.