Winter at the Concordia station in Antarctica
The long Antarctic winter is turning to spring at the Franco-Italian Concordia research station, which has resisted the brutal forces of nature about 1200 km inland on top of an icy plateau 3000 m above sea level. During winter, the Sun doesn’t rise above the horizon for about three months, and temperatures can drop down to -80°C.
This video shows the harsh but beautiful landscape around the station on one of the last sunny days in May and then how the darkness engulfed Concordia with its 12-strong winter-over team. Finally the Sun returned on 10 August — a memorable moment for the men and women who keep the station running and conduct the scientific work in those difficult, almost space-like conditions.
The video was shot by Olivier Delanoe and it includes excerpts from the letters sent by Antonio Litterio to ESA’s Concordia blog.
Time exists but cannot be measured by daytime and nighttime… All dependent on watches.