Write a comment
ESA-sponsored medical doctor Nick Smith snapped this photo of the storage containers at Concordia research station in Antarctica shortly before sunset, 8 April 2021. The dark blue line at the horizon is the shadow of the Earth.
The containers store food, recycling and the scientific samples of blood, saliva, and stool that Nick routinely takes. The units on the right are part of the summer ESA-sponsored medical doctor Nick Smith snapped this photo of the storage containers at Concordia research station in Antarctica shortly before sunset, 8 April 2021. The dark blue line at the horizon is the shadow of the Earth.
The containers store food, recycling and the scientific samples of blood, saliva, and stool that Nick routinely takes. The units on the right are part of the summer camp, during which researchers sleep in tents.
Science for the benefit of space exploration does not only happen off planet. While some studies require the weightless isolation of the International Space Station, Antarctica also provides the right conditions for investigating the consequences of spaceflight, and it is a little easier to access than space.
Part of the 17th crew to spend an entire year at one of the most remote bases in the world, Nick and 11 other crew members have taken up the adventurous challenge in the backdrop of a pandemic to continue important research that is furthering space exploration.
Located at the mountain plateau called Dome C, Concordia is a collaboration between the French Polar Institute and the Italian Antarctic programme, and is one of only three bases that is inhabited all year long.
As well as offering around nine months of complete isolation, Concordia's location at 3233 m altitude means the crew experience chronic hypobaric hypoxia - lack of oxygen in the brain.
During the Antarctic winter, the crew of up to 15 people also endure four months of complete darkness: the sun disappears from May and is not seen again until late August.
Temperatures can drop to -80C in the winter, with a yearly average of -50C. The temperature at the time of this image was -65C, with wind chill at about -80C. To put this cold into perspective, it was so cold that the camera battery died within ten minutes.
As a station set in Earth's harshest space, Concordia is an ideal stand-in for studying the human psychological and physiological effects of extreme cold, isolation and darkness. For the rest of the year, Nick is poking and prodding the crew for samples to study changes in mood, immune systems, blood cells, and gut health.
Related Links
Chronicles from Concordia blog
Beyond the Ice Age
|
| Tweet |
| Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution. | ||
| SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly |  | SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once credit card or paypal |
Antarctica's magnetic link to ancient neighbours
Paris (ESA) Mar 10, 2021
For the first time, an international team of scientists has used magnetic data from ESA's Swarm satellite mission together with aeromagnetic data to help reveal the mysteries of the geology hidden beneath Antarctica's kilometres-thick ice sheets, and link Antarctica better to its former neighbours. Not only is Antarctic sub-ice geology important to understand global supercontinent cycles over billions of years that have shaped Earth's evolution, it is also pivotal to comprehend how the solid Earth ... read more