Posted on 18/08/2014 by Lisa
Life at Concordia is not always perfect. That much you can picture by reading any book about life in extreme conditions, isolation and confinement in particular. After nine months surrounded by ice, I can tell you that...
Posted on 04/08/2014 by Lisa
As has been the case over the last 10 months, I write this from a remote research Station at the centre of the Antarctic continent. I represent a bold move on behalf of humanity to defy Antarctica’s adverse...
Posted on 14/11/2013 by julien
Soon before the arrival of the Summer scientists ending Concordia’s nine-month isolation, Antonio Litterio gives an impression of what he feels: This time I chose the song Roberto Cacciapaglia’s Ecstasy and Abyss to guide you through the breaks in my writing. Today I started to fix the chest that is in my room. This feels like a rite that preludes the end of my experience. While I was working I lay down and started to think. More than eleven months have passed since I had my first impression of Antarctic soil and since then I have lived nine months of complete isolation. I saw many seasons pass but for the first time...
Posted on 05/02/2013 by julien
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...
Posted on 17/10/2012 by julien
Alex wrote this entry for the New York Times blog: I coined the term Planet Concordia to describe my own “alien” feeling while living here at Concordia Station. Walking around down here sometimes feels like you are on the surface of the moon or some other distant planet. You really don’t feel like you are still on Earth — and if you are, you are living back in the ice age. These can be dangerous and overpowering sensations to deal with, especially in the Antarctic winter darkness. And that holds true even at this time of year, when the temperature can be erratic but is expected to start increasing again after many...