NASA scientists have rediscovered the remains of Camp Century, a long-abandoned U.S. military installation buried deep beneath Greenland’s ice sheet, during climate research flights using ice-penetrating radar.
According to French digital science media platform Futura, the discovery was made when a NASA team flew over northwestern Greenland in a Gulfstream III aircraft to test a new radar system capable of mapping ice layers down to bedrock. The radar, originally developed for Antarctic research, is used to measure ice thickness and assess future sea-level rise. During the test flights, the team detected unexpected structures beneath the ice, later identified as Camp Century.
Constructed in the late 1950s, Camp Century was publicly presented as a scientific research station but was in fact linked to Project Iceworm, a classified Pentagon programme that explored the feasibility of deploying nuclear missiles in an extensive network of tunnels carved into the Greenland ice sheet. The project aimed to position missiles closer to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
By 1964, shifting ice and melting conditions began to compromise the tunnel network, forcing the U.S. military to abandon the base. Over time, the installation was buried under accumulating ice and snow, fading from public awareness.
The rediscovery has renewed focus on Greenland’s long-standing military role. Several hundred kilometres from Camp Century lies Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, which continues to operate as a major U.S. installation supporting missile warning and space surveillance missions in the Arctic.
Camp Century was once referred to as a “city under the ice,” housing living quarters, laboratories and power systems within its frozen tunnels. NASA scientists involved in the radar flights initially did not realise the historical significance of what they had detected beneath the ice.
The find highlights a little-known chapter of Cold War-era military activity in the Arctic, preserved for decades beneath Greenland’s ice sheet.
(With inputs from agencies)
