Profile

There are many things which make our antarctic station (Concordia) like living on a spaceship or another planet. For example we are a small crew, without sunlight for over 100 days, have lower oxygen levels because we live at high altitude and are isolated from the rest of the world for 9 months. All of these things make Concordia a great place to do research so we can learn more about the effects of spaceflight missions on the health of astronauts.

After a poor night’s sleep (due to the dry atmosphere, altitude and varied daylight pattern), it is often a struggle for me to peel myself out of my cosy bed to join the others for breakfast. Nothing is possible until I have enjoyed a cup of tea!

After breakfast I head to work in the ESA Laboratory where I analyse data and send it to Europe. The ESA lab is located on the floor above our bedrooms which makes my morning commute manageable!!

Lunch is at 12:30. We are an international crew here so my friend, JP, as a true Italian kindly makes sure we have all been offered a coffee afterwards!

Every afternoon two crew members come to my lab and complete the ESA experiments.

Some days I go outside to collect snow samples to see if any bacteria can survive in the extreme environment we experience here, conditions similar to Mars. The temperature can be really really cold, often less than -80C and completely dark as we don’t see the sun for 3 months during the antarctic winter. This is a picture of me outside next to an atmospheric laser:

I also analyse the water here which is recycled using a prototype of the machine installed on the International Space Station.

In the late afternoon we regularly host Skype calls to schools and museums. Recently we had a fantastic opportunity to talk with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on the International Space Station which we all really enjoyed!

For more information about the science we are performing here and life on base please see my ESA blog