Last Antarctic sunset
Image: The 16th crew at Concordia research Station in Antarctica to spend a full winter at the facility, wave goodbye to the Sun as it descends below the horizon, not to return for four months.Sunday 3 May marked the start of the crew’s winter-over period. The 12-member group will spend the next few months in gradual and total darkness. This is in addition to their nine-month isolation in one of the most extreme environments on Earth.Concordia research station is one of three stations operating year round for science in the middle of the Antarctic ice sheet. Located at Dome C on the Antarctic peninsula, the station sits 3200 m above sea level.If the altitude does not steal your breath, the cold certainly will: temperatures can drop to –80°C in the winter, with a yearly average temperature of –50°C.Isolation in a cold, dark environment on Earth makes an ideal stand-in for space to...