A few unique visitors travel to Concordia during the summer; they either come back to see its evolution over the years, or get the chance to discover Concordia for the first time.
Jean-Paul Fave and Christian Didier have both been key figures in building the station from the ground up. Jean-Paul Fave helped conceive the metal structure of the station in collaboration with Patrice Godon from IPEV, amongst many others. They used tailor-made gigantic panels for the exterior, and built a structure elevated on hydraulic stilts, to compensate for any snow accumulation and to prevent the “warm” station from melting into the ice! Christian Didier designed the plumbing circuits and heating systems of the two towers, as well as the cooling system of the generators. Their knowledge and experience were once again welcome!
Didier Schmidt is a former Science and Technology Foresight Adviser in the President’s office of the European Commission, and a member of the space Task Force at the European External Action Service. He was lucky enough to get a taste of every possible means of travel to get to and from Concordia. He arrived by a combination of plane, the Astrolab ship and ultimately driving on the raid, and then flew out on a Twin Otter and a helicopter before taking the Astrolab again. He was previously head of the Life Sciences Programme at ESA, and whilst in Concordia saw first-hand how the station is used as a deep-space mission analogue, both because of its confinement during the 9 months of winter, but also because of the technologies used, such as for example the grey water treatment unit. He has published many articles following his visit to Antarctica, as well as a blog.
Finally Patrice Bretel, the new IPEV polar head of logistics and infrastructures replacing Patrice Godon, came to DDU and Concordia as part of his transition into his new role.
http://blogs.esa.int/concordia/2017/01/22/staying-at-concordia/
75 Degrees South 