Moonlight. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA. E. Kaimakamis

ESA sponsored medical doctor Vangelis Kaimakamis on the end of festivities and the darkness to come:

Finally the sun has left us and the long, dark period of our Antarctic experience has begun! We still see a dim light for two or three hours every day but it will not be long before we live in complete darkness for a couple of months. We are  trying to adapt to these conditions we have never experienced before, while enjoying the extraordinary night sky over our heads.

On 5 May we saluted the Sun from the astronomy shelter. We drank hot wine, made sandwiches and broke red eggs. In my country, Greece, it is customary to paint eggs and then crack them during Eastertime. It was a very nice day with a lot of fun that broke the monotony of our everyday chores and assignments.

Last sunset. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA. E. Kaimakamis

A few days earlier, on 1 May I went to the roof of the base to enjoy one of the last sunsets. In Greece we traditionally pick flowers and make wishes on the first of May but here the nearest flowers are as far as 3500 km away so I had to make do with a plastic one for the pictures, I was able to make my wishes nonetheless!

The festivities had already kicked off with my birthday on 27 April, as chef Luigi cooked a special meal with candles to blow out. My crewmates made me a unique gift: a carved piece of wood in the shape of Antarctica with signatures of all the crew on the back. I value it very much and it will decorate my wall for years to come, reminding me of my great Antarctic adventure and the fantastic people I met here.

A demanding time

Despite all the festivities, the long night arrives with the thought that it will be the most demanding period of our stay as our biological clock, our mood and motivation are influenced by the lack of natural light and other external stimuli. We are trying to measure and study some of these changes with our experiments, so for me it is interesting to observe any changes in behavior. With good team spirit and by concentrating on our duties we feel positive that everything will be OK and we are preparing ourselves for an exciting phase living in Concordia.

Medevac. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA. E. Kaimakamis

We held a number of safety exercises in the previous weeks: fire drills, emergency exit drills, first-aid lectures and retrieving an injured person outside. Concordia has to be totally self-dependent in cases of emergency and constant training is mandatory. Of course, these exercises are a way to escape routine and so are always welcome!

Apart from the purely scientific and technical duties on the base, we have many teleconferences with schools and universities. These are interesting, as we can spread our knowledge and experience to young people all over the world and show them how unique  and fragile this continent is. It is pleasant to see how interested people are in the way of life on an Antarctic base and the details of the research we conduct here.

Marvelous dawn. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA. E. Kaimakamis

We certainly miss our countries and our friends and family back home. But when we stare at the wonderful night sky with a magnificent view of our galaxy, and when we walk on the ice, the only sound being the sound of our steps and breaths, we cannot help but feel thankful for these moments! We discuss the shape of the Earth as it is reflected over the horizon during the few hours that the Sun sheds some of its light over the white scenery, at other times we observe the long shadows of the base and watch as they disappear after a couple of hours, our gaze diverted upwards by the dominance of stellar formations above…

One can only be inspired by this struggle between the light and the dark silence. I can do nothing more than try to express the feeling on paper:

Shadows on Ice

Shadows,

shadows trying to form some shape

underneath the light of an alien moon

shapes on the ice blurry and abstract

right underneath the milk of the milky way

so distant in the twilight

so soulless and full of life together

scratching inside some lost loves

- distant shadows inside my boiling soul -

as if they want to define again

their end and their final tears,

to mirror them to the distant dome of sky

- to purify them maybe -

but it’s always too late for these old habits

and the ice will bury them deep somewhere out there

under the alien moonlight and the haunted stars.

And then, the shadows will be their only hope…

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!

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

Last Concordia sunset. Credits: IPEV/PNRA-A. Litterio

Antonio Litterio describes the feelings of fear and amazement and suggests you listen to "Wild Side" by Italian musician Roberto Cacciapaglia as you read this entry. This unofficial video of the song was suggested by Roberto himself as a suitable version to play while reading:

Antarctica continues to change as it enters a new phase and the kingdoms that make up this immense territory will follow. The kingdom of light is about to end. The midday sun is now  afraid to show herself on the horizon. She looks shyly at us for a few minutes each day, peering from a distance as if to make sure that we are well before she leaves.

The light offers security, but in a few hours this caring mother will leave us to face the biggest challenge for both the group and individuals during three months of the longest night on the face of the earth.

Anyone who says that Antarctica is devoid of colours has never lived here. It is true that during the Summer the predominant colour is the white of snow in the blinding light of day. But even when the Sun shines high above its kingdom, those who look further than the end of their nose will see many shades of colour reflected in the personalities of the people who are living this experience. The wonder they experience at arrival in the Antarctic dessert and the sadness of departure.

Then there are the colours reserved for those who face the Antarctic winter, the first sunset clouds on the horizon are tinged by incredible hot colours. Then comes the night, the darkness, promising a blackness to put fear in us, but also supplying a great spectacle, the stars, the Milky Way and something even more amazing, that my eyes had never seen before.

Concordia in the dark. Credits: IPEV/PNRA-A. Litterio

It is night, the few people around me on the base are in the office, the new kingdom is ruled by the King and Queen of silence. An incredible event is waiting for me out there. I finish writing some e-mails and decide to go to sleep, but before I do I look out of the window and in the midst of the clear black sky, dotted with a myriad of stars, I see a strange light. A strange cloud that seems to be coloured green, but no... that is not a cloud.

There is no time to lose, I run like the wind to prepare. Adrenaline is rushing through my body, my desire to see this show is overwhelming. I catapult through the entrance as I put on my outdoor clothes, my only light is a headlamp I have with me. I turn it off and I look up to the sky and there, suspended over my head, is an incredible display, a long and winding trail that extends from the horizon. A green, living, moving thing. My visor clouds up and I take it off. My eyes do not hurt as they get burned by the cold, but even if you do not feel pain in Antarctica, at -65°C, you know it does not mean that the eyes are not suffering.

I stay there watching that light high-in-the-sky for a bit longer. Once back inside and tucked in under the blankets, all sleep leaves the room and the insomnia of astonishment takes over. I cannot relax after the most incredible view my eyes have ever witnessed, my first Aurora.

Aurora Australis Credits: IPEV/PNRA-A. Litterio

Credits: IPEV/PNRA-Christophe

Glaciologist Albane Barbero gives a run-down of what she does at Concordia. While we live in more comfortable environments, Albane works seven-day weeks in sub-zero conditions to understand how humankind is changing our planet. She is extremely busy as the list below is only an excerpt from full blog in French.

I work for the Glaciology and environment geophysics laboratory in Grenoble, France, on many scientific projects.

CESOA 414 and DC 903, shelter and lab 34

Three quarters of my time is spend on the CESOA 414 programme and atmospheric chemistry DC 903, tracking the sulphur content in the atmosphere in the southern hemisphere.

Twice a week I pump around 100 litres of air and measure the dimethyl sulphur (DMS). This takes around five hours which I do on Monday and Thursday afternoon.

Every day (including Sunday) I take a sample of dimethyl sulphur oxide (DMSO) in the atmosphere (this takes around two hours). Every Wednesday afternoon I analyse the week’s findings including the DMSO samples. This takes up to five hours.

In a shelter that is 800 metres from our base I have three tubes and a filter that pump air for a week. I prepare the tubes in lab 34 on the third floor of the base before taking them to the shelter. After a week I retrieve the tubes from the shelter and analyse them for organic compounds, aerosols, nitrate, sulphate and so on. This laboratory analysis takes up to four hours which I do on Tuesday afternoon. I keep the samples for further analysis back in Grenoble, so I freeze them in a container near the base.

Ozone analysis, lab 35, third floor above the rooms

The concentration of O3 is recorded continuously. Each day I check that everything is running smoothly (power cuts are quite common here) and retrieve the readouts every Monday. Once a month I need to calibrate the equipment and change the filter which takes about an hour.

Pumping, glaciology shelter at 800 m from the base

I take snow samples near the shelter from the ‘clean area’ where no vehicles are allowed, even during the summer. Every morning on Monday, Wednesday and Friday I find a flat area near the shelter and scrape the surface snow to fill a bag that is used for extracting.

NITE DC 1011 programme on NOx, lab 34 above crew quarters

I melt snow samples during two days that I extract onto a resin. I keep around 5 ml of each sample for further analysis in Grenoble. It takes about two hours to prepare the resins and another hour to prepare the samples. The extracts are finished by the next day. I repeat this process once a month, on Thursday or Saturday morning.

Snow wells, near the glaciology shelter

Digging a hole. Credits: IPEV/PNRA - A. Barbero

Each month I dig a hole in the snow where I take samples every 2 cm until 30cm deep and then every 5cm until 50cm deep to fill a small bag. I take about twenty samples and it takes about two hours spent outside. I work together with Elio, the Italian glaciologist, and we take pauses inside the shelter to warm our hands and feet. We try to do this work at the end of the week and when there isn’t much wind.

SARA, snow shelter, 900 m from base

SARA analyses the CO and CH4. It is connected to the snow tower. I have to get the data and maintain and calibrate the equipment. This takes about two hours when everything works, but up to four hours if there are problems.

Credits: IPEV/PNRA-A. Galeandro

I maintain all the instruments at the meteo station. This mainly means I get rid of the ice that sticks to the instruments. This takes about fifteen minutes every week unless I have to do more precise maintenance such as changing the temperature sensors. I also need to get the data every Monday.

Meteo station on the American tower, 1 km from base

Meteorological instruments are placed on each level of the 45-m tower. I maintain them once a week by scraping of the ice and sometimes changing parts. This takes about two ho

American Tower. Credits: P. Robert

urs on Friday afternoon. I have to climb the tower so I put on a harness and use a rope for safety. On a day without wind this is a nice operation as the view over the Antarctic dessert is very nice. As soon as there is some wind the experience is very jarring and it gets very cold! It is forbidden to climb the tower when there is a lot of wind.

Meteo station near the Helene shelter, 900 m from base

An instrument is installed on the roof of this little shelter. I maintain it every Friday and collect the data on Mondays.

Glacio 902, lab 34 and 35

Two computers in the labs monitor instruments that are buried near the Hélène shelter. I have to make sure everything works correctly. This should take five minutes when everything is working correctly, but Antarctica is a magical place: the last few days the software was not working and it took much more time.

Questions?

Now you know what I do here. As you can see I am far from being underemployed! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments.

I didn’t think this entry would be so long, I will not hold it against you if you only look at the photos like I am sure my brother Piou will do I will post pictures of the laboratory and the shelter soon, in the meantime I hope you enjoy our first views of Aurora.

Credits: IPEV/PNRA-Y. Reinert

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.

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): 

The winter is violently becoming part of my experience, much like a football player receives a hard tackle from an opponent. It puts us under pressure, the winter is depriving us more and more of our daylight that leaves us now at 17:00 and hits us with winds and low temperatures that make external duties extremely challenging.

I have the feeling the Antarctic wants to reclaim its space, as if during the summer it had been tolerant with us, but it is still reluctant to share its full natural cycle. It seems to be telling us that the winter nights, stars, and auroras are its property, and it says that by feeding an incredible and mysterious halo to human eyes.

Fading footsteps. Credits: IPEV/PNRA A. Litterio

Antarctica easily removes any sign of our passage, few traces stay visible for long. Only footprints left on a daily basis resist, but Antarctica does not wait long before sweeping them away angrily by covering them with distant snow, as if it wants to delete any geometrical pattern that does not belong to nature with its own drawings that seem very abstract to us.

Last night I had my first night out in order to take some photos, and I must say my feelings were of amazement and fear. The unreal silence is broken by noises like the squeaking of the snow under my boots, strangely the sound doesn’t seem to come directly from under the feet but from a metre away. The silence is also disturbed by blasts produced by the metal shelters as they bend from the heat inside hitting the outside temperature of about -76°C.

Credits: IPEV/PNRA A. Litterio

I am in the safest place on Earth, no one can touch me, but the primordial instinct of fear stays well alive inside me. I try to breath as little as possible. To stay vigilant, I look around and notice shadows all around.

The cold gets to your bones, especially around the back and arms, my mask begins to mist up, but the view in front of my eyes remains incredible.

Alone, in that immense white world illuminated by the full moon with a whitish light that hides the stars from my eyes but still bright enough to illuminate the horizon, I get lost in my mind and think of where I am and how unique this incredible place is.

Last night, while my mask was still completely clear, Antarctica changed its colours... maybe it is another aspect Antarctica does not want to share with me...  I see a mixture of white, black and shades of blue.... the colours of Antarctica. But let me talk about colours in another letter…

Credits: IPEV/PNRA A. Litterio

Aurora Australis. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA Y. Reinert & E. Kaimakamis

I would like to begin this post by  thanking you all for the continuous support to our mission either by reading or liking this blog or by leaving your comments to posts. Your encouraging words are an inspiration for us all! To answer some questions from previous comments, we use the refrigerators to keep products inside the main building frozen, as the temperature in the base is usually between +21 and +23 degrees Celsius, so there is a need keep some food cool! When we need to store material such as biological samples or ice samples, we put them in special containers outside and the ambient temperatures do the job cost-free!

Science
This year I am in charge of nine research protocols supervised by ESA but organised and supported by research institutes in Europe and the US. Some protocols require administering psychology questionnaires or computer recording applications to the crew , as their mood and state of mind are likely to change during the winterover. Many stressors are present in a confined environment such as Concordia.

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

Social cohesion and cooperation between team members are also measured through computer based applications that are run periodically. Other computer programs are developeing and testing an electronic partner to rely on in unexpected and complex situations.

Special medical devices are used to calculate the resting metabolic rate of individuals as well as monitoring their daily activity and food intake in order to compare these with mood profiles and their alteration through time. Other experiments deal with the cardiovascular system and postural performance and measurement of hormones and RNA in the blood and saliva. Of course there is a project that requires  sleep recordings, as sleep patterns are deeply affected by hypoxia, darkness and isolation experienced here. Finally, some specially designed antimicrobial materials are exposed in Concordia to evaluate their effectiveness and suitability for long term future space missions!

More detailed information about what we study can be found on the ESA website.

Celebrations

Aurora Australis. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA Y. Reinert & E. Kaimakamis

But living in Concordia is not only about studying and working! The place is like no other in the world and we are constantly reminded of this every time we step out of the base: the totally-white vast serenity we gaze at during sunlight or the magnificent starry night-sky with the Milky Way crossing the dome above us, everything adds to the concept of Concordia Wonders as I like to call it!

Perhaps one of the most wonderful sightings we can admire here is Aurora Australis, this unique formation in the night sky is caused by Earth’s atmosphere being bombarded by solar wind particles. And guess what – we already saw aurora a couple of times two weeks ago! Words cannot describe the feeling looking at these yellow-green slow-moving subtle formations stretching from one side of the horizon to the other, like the gentle caress of the Sun on Earth’s sleeping surface! I was lucky enough to be outside with the astronomers that night and as you can imagine the cameras were on fire to capture this extraordinary view. And as we are only at the beginning of the darkness period, we expect to witness many more spectacular aurora!

Full moon. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA-E. Kaimakamis

Last week the night was dominated by the moon so the sky had a different face, romantic and full of light! (I should add here in relation to a recent comment, that we do not only see the full moon but the crescent phase as well…). At present the night lasts for almost 14 hours and quite often the temperature drops to -72 degrees Celsius!

Greek national day. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA-E. Kaimakamis

On the 25 March it was Greek National Day, celebrating the onset of the Greek revolution – for me it was the first big celebration away from my home. We organised a little festivity in the base, we listened to some music from my country and had a Greek speciality for dinner. I am proud to be the first Greek to live this experience and I hope this can be a little motivation for people back in my country, especially during these hard times for them.

A week ago we celebrated Easter. Our chef Luigi prepared a great treat for everyone. The menu was comprehensive and we all ate a fine assortment of four courses plus dessert, a day to remember from a gastronomical point of view!

Eventually the festivities came to an end and we had to return to our everyday activities. Apart from the scientific duties we try to find some free time to go to the gym, because it is important to work out and maintain our physical conditioning in this environment, not to mention that we had to lose the extra kilos from our Easter meal! Once a week we use the sauna in a tent just outside the base. We may be far from civilization, but we can use some of its comforts even here!

The white continent. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA-E. Kaimakamis

On routine tasks, or admiring the wonders of this wild continent, we feel we are doing something unique and we know that this experience will change our lives forever. With that thought in mind, the Concordia crew wish you all a happy spring! Let me end with a quote from one of the most famous Greek poets, Odysseus Elytis, describing the colour of the sky in Greece during spring (which is much like the sky here – at least as long there is still light!):

Oh, God, how much blue you gave us to hide your presence from our eyes!

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.

Saturday, February 16: Today, Yann and Evangelos raised the Greek flag alongside the French and Italian flags. Tonight we celebrate the birthday of Anne-Marie. We decided to give her a little gift, admittedly it is not an original gift for people in Antarctica, but it is still a beautiful present. We gave her a map of the Antarctic cut out of a piece of wood, personalised and painted in the colours of Concordia (orange and white). Luigi, the chef, made an appetiser and a sumptuous feast for the occasion, really delicious!

Thursday, February 21: After a hard day's work, nothing like a workout followed by a good sauna to relax!

Saturday, February 23: Yannick, Elio and I are on cleaning duty, which means we have to clean everything and take out the rubbish. This task is nothing like taking out the rubbish at home. We have to collect all the rubbish bins, separate the waste (paper, plastic, aluminium, steel, glass etc...) and compact them. We have a room with waste compactors, a grinder and a composter for organic waste. After that we take the compacted garbage to containers and tidy it all.

Tonight we celebrate Simonetta’s birthday (yes another!). We give her the same gift as we gave Anne-Marie but personalised differently. The evening continues with a poker night, this time we play for points that can be exchanged against chores such as doing the dishes or cleaning. I am at -20 points which means I will be doing more housework in the future!

Credits: IPEV/PNRA A. Barbero

Monday, February 25: Believe it or not, but today it was warm, by which I mean that there was no wind and temperatures were between –30°C and –35°C. By our new standards this was positively hot! I also started my Italian lessons; it is time that I started.

Thursday, February 28: Today begins by having my blood drawn for the ESA experiments. I am first to go (based on our names in alphabetic order). Luckily I'm not afraid of needles or blood test because I was entitled to four needle pricks, two in each arm, of which two in the same vein. As our blood is thicker here in Concordia, it takes longer to fill the tubes. I think that I acted as a test-case since the other crew members only had one prick and I've never had problems with blood tests before!

Yukimarimo. Credits: IPEV/PNRA - A. Barbero

In the afternoon Elio and I dug a pit 1.30 m deep to sample snow for our experiments. It is very cold to stand in the snow, I returned with cold feet and hands but I did not lose any fingers or toes and nothing froze! On the way, we admired Yukimarimo, small snowballs formed during very low temperatures and strong winds. They are very light and very similar to cotton. They behave a bit like tumbleweed in deserts (everyone who has seen a Western will know what I am talking about). They are very cute and it is nice to watch them be carried away by the wind! (I remind readers that the snow around us is our only scenery!)

Digging a hole. Credits: IPEV/PNRA - A. Barbero

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.

First we need to look a bit closer at waste water. We distinguish between three types of waste water: ‘grey water’ is runoff from washing such as when taking a shower or washing vegetables and hands. Next comes ‘yellow water’ with is what we call urine. Lastly the so-called ‘black water’ is aptly named as it comes from organic wastes and faecal matter. An average human being will produce between 2 and 20 litres of grey water (depending on the length of their shower), 1.5 litres of yellow water and 0.2 litres of black water every day.

As humans produce mostly grey water, ESA has focussed on grey water recycling since the 1990’s. We created a working prototype and were looking to test the system for robustness in realistic conditions. Concordia is an ideal place to test a water recycling system as it is a realistic simulation for some aspects of human spaceflight and can be tested for a longer period of time.

Arrival. Credits: ESA

We designed a system that fits in a standard shipping container and was transported to Concordia over land on a Raid trail in 2005. Since then it has operated without significant problems.

The system uses a three-step ceramic honeycomb with holes of only around one nanometre. Ceramics are very resistant to chemicals but are breakable so getting the filters to Concordia was hair-raising. Once installed they are very reliable and have never been replaced in the seven years they have been working.

The next step in the filtration uses two reverse-osmosis filters to spit out clean water. Thin membranes are rolled up to increase surface contact with the water and increase the speed at which the water filters through the membranes. The membranes have been replaced twice since the unit has been operational.

Some precautions are necessary to use the system such as separating water intake and using soap that has been tested for use with the water recycler.

The unit. Credits: ESA

The unit has proven to be very robust and has even coped with accidents such as spills of corrosive chemicals in the normal drains.

All Concordia crew receive basic training about the system and the unit was given a complete check in 2010. This project helped ESA test its prototype and supplied data based on real-life situations while helping Concordia research station cut down on costs and keep in line with the Antarctica treaty that states no waste must be left behind in Antarctica.

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 -45^oC 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!