Photo: TwitterShe has scaled unfathomable heights with her achievements. Mangala Mani from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has created history by being the first woman scientist to spend 403 days in Antarctica. The 56-year-old was part of an expedition which went to Bharati–India’s research station in Antarctica, in November 2016.While most can only think and shiver at the thought, not even being able to imagine the effect cold can have on one’s mental and physical strength, Mani braved it to set this record.Antarctica is home to inhospitable weather conditions, and Mani was the only woman to be part of the 23-member-team that was sent to operate and maintain the Indian research station, Bharati, while also collecting satellite data for ISRO.Speaking to one of the dailies, Mani informed that it was a challenge to work there as the climate was very harsh. “We used to be very careful while going out of our climate-controlled research station. We had to wear polar clothing and even two or three hours in the cold were too severe to bear. We had to come back immediately to warm ourselves”, she said.She adds that the team had to undergo a lot of mental and physical tests, prior to the gruelling expedition. She was even taken to Auli, in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, which is at an altitude of 9,000 feet for weather acclimatisation and later to Badrinath at 10,000 feet.