Ernst Krenkel Observatory
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Ernst Krenkel Observatory (Template:Langx), also known as Kheysa, is a research station, a former Soviet rocket launching site and current meteorological station located on Heiss Island, Franz Josef Land.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1" /> It is named after a famous Arctic explorer Ernst Krenkel, a member of the crew of the North Pole-1 drift ice station and other notable Soviet polar expeditions.<ref name=":1" /> It is the northernmost meteorological station in Russia.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite journal</ref>
History
The observatory was initially located in Tikhaya Bay on Hooker Island, but it was moved and re-established on Heiss Island in 1957 to take more representative measurements. The new observatory was built by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, and it was originally named Druzhnaya (Template:Langx).<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> That year, it began launching MR-12 rockets, and the location was also used to take geomagnetic measurements in the high Arctic.<ref name=":1" /> In 1958, atmospheric and ozone observations began as well.<ref name=":3" />
About 40 buildings were built on the site, with the observatory being Template:Convert above sea level.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> In 1972, the observatory was renamed after Krenkel.<ref name=":3" />
Launches primarily ceased after 1990, though one was performed in 2007 and another two in 2008.<ref name=":0" /> The station was closed in 2001 due to a fire,<ref name=":3" /> and in 2004, a new meteorological station was built. In 2018, renovations on the abandoned buildings began so that the Russian Arctic National Park service could station people there.<ref name=":1" /> Another research station moved into the existing buildings around 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2024, a new satellite communication system was installed at the site.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>