At Concordia

Concordia. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–D. Schmitt
Didier Schmitt is a member of the space Task Force at the European External Action Service. He is a regular opinion writer in major newspapers and magazines and has published a book on foresight. He will be contributing to this blog during his visit to Concordia – we join him at Concordia after an 11-day 'Raid' supply trek in a tractor-caravan:
The Raid does not finish once it is onsite. We need to dispatching the newly arrived containers and retrieve other ones that are mainly stuffed with waste. I said goodbye in the early morning to my friends who will now ride "downhill" for nine days if the trip back to the coast goes as smoothly as it did on the outward trip. A special moment that felt like I was giving up on them. But I had an irresistible opportunity to stay and visit the Concordia base, so my tractor was put on sledges and carried back to save fuel.
Seismology cave. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–D. Schmitt
My first and most impressive visit was by chance. I met the head scientist for seismology and asked him about a possible visit of his mysterious cave I had heard ...