ESA Image of the Day : White space science

The Franco-Italian Antarctic research base of Concordia sits 1670 km from the South Pole. On the plateau some 3200 m high, the air is so thin that inhabitants live in a permanent state of hypoxia – lack of oxygen. The closest humans are 600 km away at Russia’s Vostok base. Average temperatures range from –30°C in the summer months to –60°C in the winter.

Credit : ESA/IPEV/PNRA–C. Dangoisse