Waving to the Sun

Concordia crewmemberwaves to the Sun in Antarctica. So far from the equator, the days and nights can be long – very long. The winter night lasts up to four months when the Sun does not rise above the horizon.

ESA sponsors a medical research doctor in Concordia every winter to study the long-term effects of isolation.

The base is 3200 m above sea level and temperatures drop to –80°C. No supplies can be delivered during the Antarctic winter and nobody can leave the base, no matter what emergency.

The station is the closest thing on Earth to interplanetary exploration. Studying the effects of isolation there is preparing ESA for the real thing: a mission to Mars.

Each year ESA asks medical doctors to apply for a year on the ice, running experiments at the edge of the world.

Check the Concordia website for announcements, this year's deadline is 11 May.