Concordia Base Log
By: Adrianos Golemis,
ESA research MD
Time: L+30 (December 2013)
Temperature:
-39˚C
Week: 4
Week: 4
Sunlight:
Continuous
Morale: Good, adapting
Morale: Good, adapting
Log Entry #8 – Concord Dawn
Concord Dawn was another
fictional world that visited me out of my childhood memories as I feasted my
eyes upon the milky vastness of Dome Circe. The name, similar to the Station I
was heading for, was quite fitting as a word play: the dawn of a new life for
me at Concordia. An arid, sparsely populated world and home to a few
adventurers, Concord Dawn’s fictional location was not that far from this
reality that manifested before my hungry senses on the ice. But time to return
to reality rather than indulge my imagination again. First, here’s a song from
a namesake New Zealand band, not so far away now, the sound is electronic with
a theme proper for the polar regions that we had now entered:
Ϡ Aurora, by Concord Dawn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK8oxz7IU_Q
.
As the Bassler plane touched down
at Dome Circe, I was surprised with the smoothness of the landing on the frozen
surface. Clad in polar wear, we rushed out of the hull and into the base
entrance. It was an odd feeling to finally step on this most remote structure
for which I had read and written about many times (Picture # 38).
Picture #38: Homecomings
Stepping out of the plane, I was
reunited with my compatriot and veteran ESA Doctor, Evangelos Kaimakamis. In a
funny, almost theatrical way, the words of a more historical, hard-sought
meeting came in my mind. I could easily have said:
-
Dr. Kaimakamis, I presume…?
And this would be an echo of
Stanley meeting Livingstone in the heart of Africa. Instead, we exchanged more
casual and hearty greetings, as you will see.
Last year’s crew helped us into the base by
carrying our luggage. The hypoxia at Dome Circe is a threat to your health if
you do not comply with medical advice. One must minimize physical activity,
rest and sleep a lot for the first 2-3 days until you partially acclimatize,
otherwise you could face such severe symptoms as pulmonary or cerebral oedema.
But these were very rare cases. On the contrary, all of us did suffer from
shortage of breath, a feat that still persists to this day when we go up the
many stairs of the Station, and of course, headaches! My sleep was very
disturbed these first weeks, I would always wake up after 4 or 5 hours and
found myself incapable of resting more. In time, sleep quantity was restored to
normal and I am proud to say that I can now sleep 7 hours straight! Quality is
a different matter, though: Most of us experience a lot of apnoeas during
sleep, the result of high altitude and hypoxia. Coupled with the extreme
dryness and constant light, it is not uncommon to wake up many times throughout
the night – and this is not really expected to improve much. My dreams are
always intense here, be them nightmares, which is not rare, or positive ones.
We lived together with Evangelos
for almost 10 days in room 14 of Concordia Station. Among other things he
trained me in the Medical Experiments that I would have to perform, but we also
discussed about a lot of other matters, ranging from space exploration to
theatre.
Pictures #39 & #40: Room 14 (Καϊμακάμης
– Γολέμης) and Photo
with the Greek Flag in the ESA Lab
It was a pleasure to converse in Greek
on top of English and French – and I hope some Italian for me as well before
next year is out! But the time was nigh for Evangelos’ repatriation; in a bit more
than a week gooddays suddenly turned into goodbyes.
The same plane that was to transport
Evangelos home after his long stay in Antarctica would bring two new colleagues
at the Station. I would share the room with one of them and the ESA Lab with
the other. When the plane arrived, I followed the departing crew to the frozen
runway for the last farewell.
I felt the completeness in the change
of roles as I walked Evangelos to the DC3 Dakota plane that was to take him to
the Antarctic coast, the start of a long journey back to our dear old Europe
and Greece. As I returned back to the base alone, I perceived for the first
time the status transition. From a guest and novice to Concordia Base, during
my first week of training, I was now taking my first steps on my own, as one of
the 13 winter wardens of the Station. In spite of the exhaustion, having slept
no more than 5 hours every day since my arrival, I felt deep awareness, I felt
alive.
Picture #41: Last moments at Dome Circe
for Evangelos
Next week I would rearrange and clean
the ESA Lab at Concordia, my personal work space where medical research would
be conducted. Fixing your first-ever professional office is a cool task to do,
even if it lies as far away as Antarctica!
Winter supplies began to arrive with
the next planes to the Station and we went outside to help with unloading
several times. I had been outside the base only twice these last 12 days, total
“EVA” time around 2.5 hours. So this third time out really felt like something,
it was very refreshing. Although we finished the job of unpacking the goods in
less than 20 minutes, I went on to take a small walk on the snow. The fact that
the weather was bad was actually to my liking. It really felt like an Antarctic
adventure and we marveled at the early explorers who made it to the Pole with
clothing, equipment and communications far inferior to ours today. I hope that
when they watch down on Earth from their eternal palaces among the stars, they
will be content that humanity is slowly taming the wilderness that is
Antarctica, for the first time with no weapons, no conquest, no wars, but with
mutual understanding, cooperation and care about tomorrow. This is the very
essence of our international Station, Concordia.
A few more peculiarities add to the
Concordia experience: The extreme dryness is the prime cause of high static
electricity, resulting in multiple little shocks per day when you touch the
metallic handles of the doors! Computers are very sensitive to that too, so you
always have to discharge yourself before you touch one, especially if you‘re
wearing plastic shoes!
A new tradition developed in December
was Sunday walks. A few of the crew would set out in the afternoon for a long
walk often ranging up to 20 kilometers. This is great exercise and a hard
endurance test, but you can bask with joy and self-assertion when you finish.
Throughout the austral summer, we all
enjoy the shine of a million sunrays dancing in the air among playful ice
crystals. This is the source of an interesting phenomenon called Phantom Sun or
Sun Dogs, which we hope to witness again and photograph. Diffracted sunlight
from ice crystals creates two false images of the sun that rise together with
it. In some cases, a full halo can be observed.
Pictures #42 & #43: Dome Circe at
midnight and Concordia: The little home away from home
But to return to the arrival date
at Dome Circe, that first night I was full of expectations – and a bit of fear.
I was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone, and now that I was finally
here I was elated – in the same time the old concerns over a year of isolation
were revived in my heart.
With this I recalled in my thought the
events of this unique day, the 9th of November: How we entered Dome
Circe, landed on the ice, met our crew mates and had a tour of the base. In
particular Evangelos’ welcoming words were imprinted vividly in my memory.
- “Κανένας Έλληνας εδώ πέρα; / Anyone
from Greece here among you?” he asked humorously as ten indistinguishable
people in blue and red uniforms with masks descended from the plane.
-
“Για την ακρίβεια, ναι! / Yes,
indeed!” I had answered happily. We embraced each other, unable to believe we
had met after two years in the most unlikely of places, at the other end of the
Earth.
Exhausted by travelling, lack of sleep
and hypoxia, I still went to bed with a broad smile that night, content in the
thought that this might have been the first dialogue muttered in Greek in the
very heart of the Antarctic world. ҉
Twitter: @Astrovenator
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