Category Archives: Concordia

My winter house

Concordia station. Credits: IPEV/PNRA A. Barbero

Join glaciologist Albane Barbero as she takes us on a guided tour of Concordia research station in the heart of Antarctica on a mountain plateau called Dome C. Loosely translated from her original in French.

I realised that I have not written about my new house. To start with it is very large: 1500m2 for 15 people or 100 m2 per person. Pretty roomy don’t you think? Concordia has a special design based on two towers built on large hydraulic pylons to avoid sinking into the snow and snowdrifts. A couple of containers are connected to the noisy tower. Ah yes, as you might have understood, each tower is layout with specific activities in mind, divided into a ‘noisy’ and ‘quiet’ tower.

Credits: IPEV/PNRA A. Barbero

We start our tour in the containers. They are the beating heart of the complex. No, not the kitchen, but the generators, motors and boilers that keep our house liveable. The containers also contain the sewage treatment for ‘grey water’ from the showers and sinks, and the ‘black water’ from the toilets. We separate our rubbish very carefully (paper, plastic, steel, aluminium, glass, and non-recyclables). Organic waste is treated in a special composter. Lastly this area has two urinals. Suffice to say it doesn’t always smell very nice but only the technical team spend much time here. Our plumber, Olivier, has the hardest deal: he has to deal with the sewage…

Concordia kitchen. Credits: IPEV/PNRA-A. Barbero

Our tour continues with the noisy tower that is connected to the containers by a sealed passage. On the second floor we enter the second heart of our house, the kitchen. Our cook Luigi uses this fully-equipped, large space to cook us his lovely food.

The second floor also contains our games room that used to be the self-service restaurant during the summer. The games room has a table-tennis table, an Italian table football, a French table football (I now know the difference!), a billiard table and a dart board. Next to all this we have our living room with a dining table, sofas, a reading table, the (graphic novel) library, all our board-games as well as a computer for playing music (with speakers of course). It is very luxurious!

Games room. Credits: IPEV/PNRA-A. Barbero

Below, on the first floor, is where we keep our food supplies in an immense fridge, freezer and cupboard. Our television room or cinema is also on the first floor. The area can be changed into the bar/disco in the Dome C area. We call it the Antarctic Tower Club or ATC for the regulars. This multifunctional room has very comfortable sofas as they are made out of mattresses by the DC9 crew (that is us). On this floor, we have also a fully furnished sport room!

Credit

Workshop Credits: IPEV/PNRA-A. Barbero

On the ground floor you will find the workshop with just about everything you would find in a do-it-yourself shop and more. On Friday nights the workshop is often used as a poker room (I won last time, so at last I can trade in my kitchen cleaning duties!). Aside from that you will find the washing corner with two washing machines and three dryers. We don’t have to queue to do our washing here! The Technical Office is also on this floor. Yannick, the chief technician, has a shower for himself as he sleeps in a room on the ground floor in the quiet tower to be close to the generators and boilers in case they need quick servicing.

A large walkway that doubles up as our entrance connects the noisy and quiet towers. Here we hang up our coats and store our shoes and other outside gear.

Medical room. Credits: IPEV/PNRA-A. Barbero

Over to the quiet tower, on the ground floor is the hospital with the doctors room (in our case the doctor is also the station leader), the pharmacy, the operating theatre with a dentist’s chair (we hope we never have to use it!) and the rest of the equipment we need if someone gets hurt. Next to all this is the mail room with two computers for Skype and so on, and a telephone cabin which is hidden under the stairs.

Albane's room. Credits: IPEV/PNRA-A. Barbero

On the first floor we have the crew quarters with 16 rooms. Three rooms are unoccupied this season so we installed a computer with Skype in one of the empty rooms. The bathrooms, toilets and a washing room are here as well. The washing room is full of sheets, an ironing board and suitcases and so on.

Lastly the second floor holds our laboratories (astronomy, glaciology, seismology, atmosphere physics, geomagnetism, biomedical etc.) and the radio room where we can talk to the other Antarctic bases.

Laboratory. Credits: IPEV/PNRA-A.Barbero

Each tower has an access hatch to the roof. The noisy tower flies the Italian, French and Greek flags (ESA researcher Evangelos is from Greece, the rest of us are French or Italian). The roof of the quiet tower is more crowded as I store my hydrogen bottles up there for safety. I climb up to the roof often to open the bottles for my research. Up here you will also find antennas, satellite dishes and sometimes, Yann and Christophe install cameras for their astronomy photos.

Each tower has an emergency stairway and special emergency exits that looks like socks that fold out of the base. We jump into them to escape quickly in an emergency.

That concludes the tour of my house. Next time I will show you our ‘garden’…

Recycle! Credits: IPEV/PNRA-A.Barbero

Call for doctors

This year's Concordia crew are settling in and getting ready for the long night. In two weeks time the Sun will dissapear for four months.

ESA announced they are looking for next year's research doctor to work in Antarctica. Think you have what it takes, and have a medical degree? Apply here and tell your doctor friends. More information on the ESA website.

Antarctica wants to reclaim its space

Credits: IPEV/PNRA A. Litterio

This blog entry is written by this year's electronics technician at Concordia, Antonio Litterio. Antonio suggests listening to music by Italian pianist Roberto Cacciapaglia as you read to set the mood. Today is Antonio's birthday and Roberto Cacciapaglia allowed us to post his music and even wrote this birthday message for Antonio: 

"I have read with great emotion your words on the blog. I'm happy that music can be a way to feel closer to unknown people that are doing so many different things.
I have a great admiration for what you are doing and I would like to tell you my joy and to do my best wishes, Antonio, for this birthday full of wonders.

A big hug

Roberto Cacciapaglia"

Hit play, and listen to Meraviglia as you read Antonio's blog entry (music starts at 1:30): 

(more...)

Yukimarimo

First sunset. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - A. Barbero

Translated excerpts from Albane Barbero's blog in French on snow formations and taking out the rubbish:

Tuesday, February 12: first day of winter. It is very quiet upstairs in the labs, later I understand why: the boys installed a games room and refurbished the dining room. the summer dining room has become the games room (with billiards, table football, ping-pong and darts) and the living room has been turned into a dining room with one large table for the winter crew, just like home! It’s great! In the evening, we experience our first sunset and we all stay up to watch the sun disappear below the horizon. (more...)

Recycling water in Concordia

During their months in isolation the Concordia crew will be using recycled water processed from a unit developed with the polar institutes IPEV and PNRA and based on knowledge gained by ESA’s MELiSSA project. The project is a great of example of cooperation between Concordia and ESA. ESA’s Brigitte Lamaze explains all:

Installation. Credits: ESA

MELiSSA has been working for over 20 years to create self-sustaining eco-systems to support life indefinitely in a closed environment. Water processing, whereby all water is captured and purified to be consumed again, is part of the technologies needed to achieve this goal.

In an average day a human being or astronaut will, metabolically, consume about 1 kg of oxygen, 1 kg of food and 3 kg of water, so water recycling is an important aspect for planning long-term expeditions. The more we recycle, less consumables are need to be transported on a mission, be it to the International Space Station or Concordia, cutting costs and freeing transport for scientific experiments and equipment. (more...)

And now… the winter ahead!

ESA-sponsored medical research doctor for Concordia, Evangelos Kaimakamis, or 'Vangelis' for short, continues his chronicles:

Last plane leaving Concordia. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - E. Kaimakamis

The Concordia summer crew has left the base and only the 15 to stay all winter remain in the base now!  About three weeks ago we saluted the last plane that took off from our ‘skiway’ leaving us alone in the middle of nowhere for the next nine months. It was like an old movie scene: the DC-3 Dakota airplane firing up its engines and moving away in the smoke, the snow lifted by its propellers. We waved goodbye with mixed emotions thinking about the long winter ahead. It was something like the closing scene from the movie Casablanca!

Raid arriving. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - E. Kaimakamis

Before this goodbye, the last Raid Traverse came with 120 tonnes of food, fuel and equipment and it kept us busy for five days. We had to unload the Raid, organise supplies for the winter and place them in appropriate containers and refrigerators for the next ten months.

Talking to the Traverse staff, who had travelled 1100 km on the ice to reach us from the coastline, offered a different perspective and a nice subject for discussion until their departure a few days later.

On their day of departure the smoke from their engines rose into the sky covering the abundant Antarctic Sun for a while. Watching these impressive tractors moving together and pulling large fuel tanks, containers and living compartments reminded me of humankind's desperate efforts to conquer nature and harness its forces in the wildest of the lands.

Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - E. Kaimakamis

Over the next days, the temperature began to drop, averaging -45oC while the Sun was considerably lower in the horizon. We witnessed our first sunset on February 12. Cameras were ready and the official end of the summer had arrived!

Experiment setup. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - E. Kaimakamis

The last plane has now departed and we have all the time in the world to organise our everyday lives and our technical or scientific tasks. All of ESA’s biomedical protocols have started, some technical issues have been resolved. Conducting research related to space medicine in this isolated settlement is fulfilling. I am a test subject for the various experiments, so I have a hands-on approach to the difficulties, constraints and solutions related to this type of research.

The rest of the people in the group are very helpful and morale is high. Apart from the purely scientific work, my duties involve participation in everyday communal chores and of course, during our free time we usually play games and socialise to form a robust group ready to face the difficult winter ahead. A few days ago we took a group photo outside the base with the setting sun under the ice in the background. I raised the Greek flag (perhaps for the first time in Antarctica), that made me proud and has boosted my morale for the rest of my campaign here!

Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - E. Kaimakamis

A few days ago we saw the moon rising for the first time as well, a marvellous spectacle, a clearly symbolic event marking the imminent prevalence of night in the polar region. We will have the privilege to enjoy a night sky impossible to see anywhere else in the world! I cannot wait for this view! Our families and beloved ones are thousands of miles away and we are still at the beginning of this adventure. We hope for the best and struggle to be efficient and functional, both as individuals and as a group.

Bon Hivernage!

Food storage and the last aircraft

Credits: IPEV/PNRA - A. Barbero

Albane Barbero, a 25-year-old glaciologist from France, is sharing her experience at Concordia this year. Below are translated excerpts from her original blog in French.

Saturday 2 February, a large group left today, the research base is emptying fast. To relax before the third Raid trail arrives with the extra work it entails, we enjoyed a short session of sauna. It was quite enjoyable not to mention invigorating, jumping out at -40°C in a swimsuit.

Monday 4 February there was a lot of work to do. We emptied all the outside containers filled with frozen food to fill them with the new food that arrives around noon on the third Raid. Everything must be ready as we must lose as little time as possible.

Arrival of the Raid caravan. Credits: IPEV/PNRA - A. Barbero

Some food is stored at 4°C and must not freeze, so everyone has a role to be as efficient as possible. Antonio and I positioned ourselves outside the storage room on the second floor of the base. As the door opens to the outside world we had to wear security ropes while transferring the food to the people inside. It is physical work because we are exposed to the elements. But the operation allowed us to observe how this year’s winter crew work together.

Wednesday 6 February we continued our unloading and cleaning work but today we started after lunch. We made use of the time in the morning to catch up on the scientific work or rest a bit. Three Italians leave tonight, we will say our goodbyes before we go to bed as they leave at three in the morning and after three days of heavy work, we are not sure that we will wake up on time to see them off. The technicians on the base do not have a choice because they are needed to prepare the aircraft. After they leave only the 15 of us who will stay the winter plus five more will remain. Among the five who will stay on a bit longer are the brothers Lepage who are preparing a graphic documentary about their trip to Concordia.

Friday 9 February, the aircraft departure has been delayed so I invited the brothers Lepage to join me at the American tower. Unfortunately there was a lot of wind and it was very cold at the top of the tower, we undoubtedly experienced temperatures between -65 ° C and -70 °C. It will be a nice anecdote for their project! In the evening, the chefs organised a champagne aperitif to celebrate the departure of the last summer guests and it was a very pleasant evening!

Credits: IPEV/PNRA - A. Barbero

Monday 11 February, the last of the summer guests left and the plane returned with 1,5 tonnes of fresh food. We had to be outside to unload it at six o’clock and just around this time the wind came up and the temperatures dropped. You cannot see anything with the masks on as they freeze up, so we work without them but then your eyelashes freeze. In short it was a struggle, luckily the 1,5 tonnes seemed insignificant compared to all the food we unloaded over the last week.

Tuesday 12 February, the aircraft and its crew leave. This is it, today is the first day of winter! It is a strange sensation but it is great because winter has arrived and we are finally in our own home for the next year.

February 2011 – last aircraft

Domenico Romano, astrophysicist and glaciologist, spent the winter at Concordia  in 2011. Specially for this blog he wrote about the last aircraft leaving, signalling the start of the long winter.

Credits: IPEV/PNRA-D. Romano

The arrival of February marks the end of the summer campaign in Concordia. Most of the logistics personnel start leaving the base and human presence is reduced from 60 people to around 20 in just a few days. Among these 20 people are the crew that stay on for the whole winter. The workload intensifies in the run-up to the last plane departure.

Vehicles are stored safely in a cave called the Tubosider, as vehicles cannot be used in the winter due to the fuel freezing. The Tubosider is sealed using a large excavator that compacts ice at the cave’s entrance to prevent snow coming in during the winter storms to come. The excavator is the only vehicle to withstand the harsh temperatures of winter. Its operation is crucial, as the machine and its operator are required for Concordia’s drinking water. The excavator takes snow from specially reserved areas and puts them in a melting tank to melt the ice into water through a system of heaters.

Long shadows from low Sun. Credits: IPEV/PNRA-D. Romano

As February progresses the shadows of the two towers become longer. The Sun, after three months of permanent presence, starts to touch the horizon. After many weeks of living under an intense blue the sky starts to be painted with a yellowish reflection reminiscent of sunsets at home. The Antarctic plateau indulges the viewer with whims of light and colour with shades ranging from blue to red. In a few days the Concordia crew will experience their first sunset.

Those who remain have conflicting emotions. On the one hand there is the desire to finally begin the winter adventure, as a spaceship crew might feel as it leaves the safe harbour of Earth-orbit. Once the last plane leaves, there is no chance to leave Concordia. We were well aware that everything depended on us and it was our responsibility to make sure that all went well.

On the other hand there is the sadness of saying goodbye to the people with whom we joked, discussed and worked with side-by-side for weeks. Inevitably bonds were formed. Some of the departing crew we would see again in nine months.

Last aircraft to leave Concordia in 2011. Credits: IPEV/PNRA-D. Romano

The departure arrived early in the morning. Farewells required a bit of time, final instructions were given to the wintering crew and some of us gave items to be delivered to loved ones.

Shortly after the door closed of the historic DC-3 Dakota aircraft (seeing it from the outside makes it looks more spacious than it actually is) the noise of the first propeller-engine became deafening. Standing in our suits with our hands held high in greeting, the second propeller started spinning and a cloud of dusty ice rose behind the aircraft. The sound of the engines became more acute, a sign that it has increased speed and a few minutes later the plane was on the runway waiting for a "go-fly" from the radio room.

The roar of the engines increased even more and the aircraft accelerates on its runway ice rink. More than a kilometre later it lifted off the ground, climbed and, following tradition, made a wide turn back above Dome C to greet us.

Before realising it, the plane moved away to the point of no longer being visible. In Concordia, the clock registered 10:47 on 5 February 2011. 17:47 Italian time, winterover starts now. We knew that, in case of emergency, we could be retrieved up to the end of February by a special flight from McMurdo station. We are not quite yet in total isolation.

Winter crew 2011. Credits: IPEV/PNRA-D. Romano

Being the only ones left propelled us for the first time into what was to be our everyday life for the next nine months and we related differently to the base and its spaces in the new situation.

An hour later, tables and chairs were moved to the living room, where during the summer we enjoyed a little relaxation after a meal, chatting and having our weekly meetings. From then on the space was used for dining. A toast to the winterover crew.

First winter meal. Credits: IPEV/PNRA-D. Romano

Getting to Concordia is never easy

Stopover for refuelling on the last leg of the journey. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - E. Kaimakamis

The new ESA-sponsored medical research doctor for Concordia, Evangelos Kaimakamis, arrived on 22 January. We decided to wait before posting his first blog entry, written shortly after his arrival, due to the plane crash in Antarctica late January. This crash is proof if any was needed that Antarctica is a harsh and dangerous continent. Our thoughts go out to the people and family involved in the crash and all who work on Antarctica.

After a really long and tiring journey that took me from my home country, Greece, via Frankfurt, Singapore, Sidney, Christchurch in New Zealand to McMurdo base in Antarctica. From there my journey continued to Terra Nova base, where I stayed for a week due to weather conditions. Now I have finally arrived at Concordia base! During the last nine days I accumulated 35 flight hours – the last few hours where on aircraft with skis landing on snowstrips in the middle of nowhere!

Adélie Penguin at Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - E. Kaimakamis

The trip itself was an adventure, so I can only imagine how challenging it will be staying here for the winterover. The diversity of the landscape was also a unique experience: From the first tabular icebergs spotted when flying over the outskirts of Antarctica, the close encounters with penguins, sea Skuas and seals at Terra Nova Bay to the vast areas of totally level white surfaces at Dome C. The visibility is extraordinary and I keep thinking about the starry nights over Concordia in a few months!

Concordia base is situated on an icy plateau with an elevation of 3233 m which is equivalent to 3700m at lower latitudes, which simply means that there is not enough oxygen in the air for normal levels of activity. I have to get used to breathing a little heavier and getting tired easier, at least until my body compensates for these conditions. It is also quite cold here, for example the current temperature is -33oC with a windchill of -44oC! You notice the cold wind as soon as you get out of the aircraft on arrival!

White vista at Concordia base. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - E. Kaimakamis

Another amazing fact (at least for someone coming from a Mediterranean country) is that the sun never sets during the day at this time of year. You can go out for a walk in broad daylight at 4 am! Presently the station is a beehive of more than 50 people living and performing their tasks, but from the beginning of February only 15 people will stay here until the end of the year.

Concordia base. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - E. Kaimakamis

Living and working in such conditions plus dealing with the effects of constant darkness and isolation during the winterover is definitely an achievement but also a matter of great scientific interest. Concordia is one of the most appropriate places on Earth to simulate bases in other planets such as the moon or Mars and conclusions drawn here from biomedical experiments can help astronauts in future space missions but also people living and working in extreme and confined places on our planet. This is why every year ESA sponsors a research medical doctor to be part of the winterover crew at Concordia and study the effects of all these adverse parameters to the human body and mind. This year I have the honour and responsibility to be part of this research campaign and get a little taste of the life of the original Antarctic explorers. So here I am standing some tens of thousands of kilometres away from my home and family, making new friends, living in a continent of excessive beauty and wilderness and feeling a bit out of our planet as I used to contemplate it.

Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - E. Kaimakamis

Let us begin the scientific work and live up to the challenge!

Adapting to life in cold isolation

Doing my job... my colleague and I cleaning instruments from the snow.

Doing my job... my colleague and I cleaning instruments from the snow. Credits: P. Robert

While waiting for this year's Concordia crew to start sending updates, Angelo Galeandro sent us his experience of spending almost a year at the remote research station:

My story begins in July 2010, when a colleague of mine asked me if I was interested in spending a full year in Antarctica. Actually, she was joking, but I took her seriously. A research team was looking for someone to monitor their equipment during the winter in Concordia, Antarctica. I presented myself and, a few months later, I realised one of the greatest dreams of my life. For the first time walked on the ice of the White Continent of which I had only read about in books and seen in some documentary before.

The emotions and feelings I experienced from the moment I left home after saying goodbye to my loved ones, over the entire period of my stay in Antarctica and beyond, have been so many that it is difficult to find the right words to describe them in the space of few lines. (more...)