The tasks of the expedition were: The programme included 6 stations: (Mirny; Vostok; Sovetskaya; Oasis; Pionerskaya and Komsomol'skaya).
A portion of the train (7 tractors and sledges) left on the 20th to relieve Vostok, arriving on the 27th, and delivering over 100 tons of cargo.
On 3 February the train, with 27 men, left to found Sovetskaya; they reached 78° 24′ S, 87° 35′ E on the 10th, at an altitude of 3570 m. The station was rapidly constructed, and the train left on the 18th, returning to Mirny on 4 March, having completed a round trip of 4,000 km (2,500 mi).
After spending the Antarctic winter at Mirny, the Expedition undertook a second set of tractor traverses starting in September 1958.
Estonian writer Juhan Smuul took part of the expedition as a Soviet journalist and described the interesting details in his 1960 book "Antarctica Ahoy!