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BLOGS VLOGS & VIEWS

Fools dreaming - the story of astronauts who simulated SPACE walking in China...

13/2/2022

 

Author: Chris Yuan

CoFounder Planet Expedition Commander Academy, Explorers Club member, and Space Dreamer...

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​Looking up at the stars and yearning to explore the unknown depths of space must have been written by God into human genes.
Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in western China have many inaccessible and barren desert landforms, similar to the Moon and Mars. When arriving in these geographic environments and looking up at the distant stars and gleaming Milky Way in the night sky, many tourists say: "I only know now that we live in the universe, this place is so alien!".
Although China is a country with developed aerospace in the world, the aerospace industry is more like a symbol of pride for the country and the nation. Ordinary people do not have many paths to truly experience space exploration. But the role of the "genes" of human space exploration is powerful.
Since 2019, the abandoned oil base in Delingha City, Qinghai, China, and the Gobi Desert of the Great Highway in Xinjiang, some tourism agencies and private companies have begun to build some buildings that simulate alien habitats to receive and develop some groups of tourists. summer camp students. For self-driving tourists who come here, most of them will stop for a short time and rent a prop spacesuit to take pictures. The price of renting a spacesuit is 75-150 US dollars an hour.
Vertical Divider
​仰望星空和向往探索未知的太空应该是上帝写在某些人类基因里的奥秘。
中国西部的新疆,内蒙古,以及青藏高原有着许多人迹罕至,寸草不生的戈壁,沙漠,雅丹地貌,类似月球和火星的地貌。
许多游客到达这些地理环境,在黑夜中看到头顶久违的星空闪烁,熠熠生辉的银河时,他们就会说:“我现在才知道我们是生活在宇宙之中,这个地方太像在外星了!”
中国虽然是世界上航天发达的国家,航天事业更像是国家和民族的骄傲象征,普通人并没有多少路径可以去真实体验太空探索。但是人类太空探索的“基因”的作用是强大的。
自2019年开始,中国青海德令哈市辖区的废弃的石油基地,新疆的大海道的戈壁滩上,一些旅游机构,私人企业开始建造一些模拟外星栖息地的建筑来接待开发一些一些成团的夏令营学生。对于慕名而来的的自驾车游客,他们多半会短暂停留,租一套道具宇航服拍照留念,出租宇航服的价格在75-150美元一小时。
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The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, also known as Earth’s Third Pole, is at high altitude and has strong ultraviolet rays. Since 2019, we have designed and planned the "Future Astronaut Training Camp", the predecessor of today's PECA (Planet Expedition Command Academy). In this program, the design, construction and wearing of a prop spacesuit to simulate an extraterrestrial walk is the finale of the training camp graduation.
Vertical Divider
​青藏高原是地球的第三极,海拔高,紫外线强。自2019年开始,我们设计和策划了“未来宇航员训练营”,就是今天的PECA(Planet Expedition Command Academy) 的前身。在这个计划中,外星栖息地的设计,建造和穿道具宇航服模拟外星行走是训练营毕业的压轴戏。
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“Science On Board”: Space Research Begins Underwater

12/1/2022

 

Author: Karin Brünnemann, PMP®

Karin Brünnemann is PMI Slovakia’s first interplanetary project manager. Karin has more than 25 years of experience managing global strategic projects. She helps companies during phases of cultural change and digital transformation. Apart from being a PMP®, Karin is also a certified trainer for intercultural management. She is currently using her project management expertise in her work as a Flight Planner for the Austrian Space Forum’s AMADEE-20 analog Mars mission.

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​The Hydronaut project is an underwater habitat that started operations in 2020 and is currently the scene for analog space research.  Dr. Miroslav Rozloznik, a Flight Planner for the Austrian Space Forum, conducted an underwater analog space mission in 2021 that was fully dedicated to science. The week-long mission, in which three analog astronauts participated, included a two-day underwater stay, and featured an EVA. Scientist-on-Board, Dr. Miroslav Rozloznik from Slovakia, conducted numerous experiments in the areas of physiology, microbiology, medicine, and space psychology.
 
Dr. Rozloznik explained “Conducting underwater analog missions complements Moon or Mars simulations in land-based habitats. While we might not be able to test rovers, drones, or rock sampling procedures, the feeling in the underwater habitat is much more space-like. I felt very detached from Earth, even the support diver appeared like an alien, when he was looking into our porthole, dressed in his diving suit. The underwater habitat also offers the possibility to simulate more complex conditions like long periods of darkness, or variation in temperature and humidity. Furthermore, the ‘psychological safety net’ of being able to open the door and get help in case something happens, is not there. We can leave the habitat but will face several hours of decompression in cold water before we are back in a safe environment.”

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A diver during EVA. Image credit: @Hydronautproject
Part of the underwater experiments focused on the internal environment of the habitat, gathering data relating to air quality, temperature, humidity, and the microbiology of the habitat. Another area of research was dedicated to the medical and physiological well-being of the divers. Dr. Rozloznik tested novel diagnostic instruments, for example, a remote stethoscope that transmitted real-time heartbeat and breathing rates to a doctor located in the mission control center. Such equipment will be very useful for future space exploration and also has many applications for telemedicine on Earth. The crew also tested various biosensors, allowing for comparison and cross-link between physiological, neurophysiological, and psychological measurements.
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Hydronaut Mission 2 crew, from right: Frantisek Harant, Matyas Sanda and Dr. Miroslav Rozloznik. Image credit: Petr Toman @Hydronautproject
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During medical check-up. Image credit: Petr Toman @Hydronautproject

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Humanity’s Most Challenging Project: From Project Manager on Earth to Flight Planner for an analog Mars mission

3/1/2022

 

Author: Karin Brünnemann, PMP®

Karin Brünnemann is PMI Slovakia’s first interplanetary project manager. Karin has more than 25 years of experience managing global strategic projects. She helps companies during phases of cultural change and digital transformation. Apart from being a PMP®, Karin is also a certified trainer for intercultural management. She is currently using her project management expertise in her work as a Flight Planner for the Austrian Space Forum’s AMADEE-20 analog Mars mission.

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Following the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing (July 20, 1969) and more recent progress in space technology, interest in space activities has increased again. Agencies like NASA and ESA, space organizations in China or India, as well as some private companies, have plans to send humans to Mars. Such a mission to Mars obviously needs diligent preparation. Vehicles, tools, and space suits have to be tested, experiments and procedures need to be assessed. Most importantly, we have to understand the impact a journey to Mars will have on the astronauts who will travel there. To evaluate all these factors and to train future astronauts, organizations like the Austrian Space Forum, have been organizing analog Mars missions for some years already. An analog Mars mission is a mission on earth in a Mars-like environment, where analog astronauts test space suits, tools, vehicles, and procedures that will in the future be used on expeditions to our neighbouring planet.
​The AMADEE-20 analog Mars mission took place in Israel’s Negev desert during October 2021. Over the course of four weeks, an international crew of six analog astronauts conducted a number of experiments to study human behaviour and well-being; tested technical equipment, vehicles, and space suits; and deployed platforms and procedures in the areas of geoscience and life detection. A further aim of this Mars simulation was the development of a state-of-the-art Mission Support structure. I joined the AMADEE-20 team as a Flight Planner two years ago. In this role, I have been using my project management skills to help prepare and conduct scientific experiments as a member of the Mission Support team. Each experiment can be viewed as a subproject in itself and needs to be managed meticulously.
PictureSarah Feilmayr/OeWF (Austrian Space Forum)©
​There are many similarities between my work as a Project Manager on Earth and my assignment as a Flight Planner for the analog Mars mission. To begin with, a Mars mission, whether simulated or real, is of course, a project. It is humanity’s most challenging, complex, risky, and expensive project. Like any other project, it can be divided into process groups. I started work on the AMADEE-20 Mars simulation during the planning process. One of my main tasks as a Flight Planner at this stage was to obtain a full and very detailed description of the experiments (subprojects) I had been assigned to. The output of these descriptions are documents comparable to a project charter. Since time “on Mars” is very limited during the mission, resources have to be assigned very carefully to the different experiments (subprojects) in order not to run into any resource conflicts. Furthermore, just like international projects on Earth, (analog) astronauts and Mission Support team members will experience cross-cultural differences and will be trained to handle them.

One major difference between the projects I am normally working on, and this Mars simulation is the detail to which experiments (subprojects) have to be managed. Usually, I plan tasks for my project teams on a daily basis. For analog Mars projects, we have to plan tasks in time slots of 15 minutes. During a simulated and later real Mars mission, astronauts must wear space suits to protect themselves from the hostile environment on our neighbouring planet. As it takes a long time to put on a space suit and as they are very heavy and not comfortable to wear and work in, the time the astronauts can spend outside their habitat is very limited and therefore, very valuable and must be scheduled in great detail. Another difference is the high risk to human life and well-being, as well as to the safety of the usually very expensive equipment. Communication also poses a big challenge. The entire team has to almost learn a new language, consisting of many acronyms specific to space exploration. Simple Earth-words like “yes” and “no” are not used, since they can easily be misunderstood; we use “affirmative” and “negative” instead to express approval or disagreement.
Despite these differences, as a certified PMP® and trained analog Mars Mission Support team member, I am well prepared to take on this challenge. And as a Project Manager, I am of course, very much enjoying to expand my skills beyond Earth and to be part of creating the future of space travel and project management.
 
If you want to learn more about this analog Mars mission, please visit https://oewf.org/en/portfolio/amadee-20/. If you want to learn more about project management for analog Mars missions, please contact me at [email protected] or https://www.linkedin.com/in/karinbrunnemann/.
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Mars panorama taken by Exploration Rover Spirit (2005). Image source: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Two Worlds...

14/4/2021

 
As ESA-sponsored Dr Stijn Thoolen comes closer to the end of his year at the Concordia research station in Antarctica, he begins to reflect on his experiences of the last year and the journey homewards. Enjoy the rest of his fascinating blog series by following the links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10

Dr Stijn Thoolen

Medical Research Doctor, Concordia Research Station, Antarctica

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Concordia, October 4, 2020
Sunlight: about 14 hours per day
Windchill temperature: -85 °C
Mood: excited, but there is a pinch of nostalgia. Already…
It’s 1:00 AM. I am lying outside on the roof, together with Ines (glaciologist), Elisa (cook) and Andrea (vehicle mechanic). There is a full moon shining on us, and Mars is right next to it. I am not much of an astronomer, but its bright color stands out so clearly from all the other celestial objects that even I can recognize it instantly as the Red Planet. Looking to the southwest I see Jupiter and Saturn. Also pretty hard to miss. Usually that is where I find the Milky Way, but there is too much light now, even at this hour. An amber color brightens the horizon, beyond which I now realize again there are just so many miles of ice (something easily taken for granted here, but thinking back to that inbound flight to Concordia last year does the trick) separating us from the rest of the world. In front of it all, I look at the frosty metal bars, which always looked so surrealistic to me when I saw pictures of them back home. They have gone through winter as well…
How will it be to go back home? With only one more month before the first plane arrives, I can’t help myself trying to picture how things will look when we return to ‘Earth’. And I have to admit: sometimes I look forward to a change. Not-so-constructive or even aggressive discussions, distance-creating demotivating remarks from others, and at times a lack of respect, understanding and team spirit: it is obvious that the winter has left its marks in our crew. At those moments I just wish to be among the people that are close to me again. My girlfriend, my family, my friends, who all seem to understand me down to a much deeper level. In a way the approaching summer is exciting.
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A moment of realization. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–S. Thoolen
The return of the sun was cool. ‘Here comes the sun’ (you know, that one from the Beatles) was heard all over the station while we impatiently and excitedly tried to catch a first glimpse of it mid-August. Since that moment the skies have become more and more blue, and the snow more and more bright. I have experienced the gradual return of daylight over the past weeks with a positive and fresh feeling, and a sense of anticipation has started to take hold of the station. Who are the people who will replace us? What are our plans after Concordia? I remember myself some weeks ago, lying in exactly the same position as I am right now, outside against a snow dune, sheltered from the wind and with a pleasant -50 degrees Celsius (I realize this perception must be taken relatively…), alone, and just letting the sunshine touch my face again. A special moment, that reminded me of how pleasant summer conditions are going to be.

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Let's Talk Science, Part 4: SEX

20/3/2021

 
ESA-sponsored Dr Stijn Thoolen delivers the last part of his 'Let's Talk Science' blogs, written during his year at the Concordia research station in Antarctica. Catch-up with his previous blogs at Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9

Dr Stijn Thoolen

Medical Research Doctor, Concordia Research Station, Antarctica
​

But there is more to the ESA lab, and I have saved the best for last. So, now that you are probably overloaded with theories and facts, let’s talk about something very different. Let’s talk about sex!
And before we continue, you have to promise me to turn on another song, to end this blog with some appropriate groove.
So, sex at Concordia… Well, to tell you the truth, there doesn’t seem much to it. At least, I haven’t seen it. Maybe there has been more excitement in other crews, but with my girlfriend on the other side of the globe I couldn’t agree more with the wisdom of Apsley Cherry-Garrard, a member of the famous and ill-fated Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole in 1910-1913:
‘Both sexually and socially the polar explorer must make up his mind to be starved’​
But maybe there is more to it than it seems, and what Cherry-Garrard says is not necessarily easy to do. We are human, after all. Sexuality is one of our core features, vital for our existence, and for many it is a fundamental source of pleasure, intimacy, bonding, and social relations. Researchers have shown how sexual deprivation can lead to frustration, anger and even depression, and also seen from a group perspective anecdotal accounts have shown that sexual desire and related feelings of jealousy and competition can lead to adaptation problems in extreme environments. Including Concordia!
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But the problem with sex it that we don’t easily talk about it. Perhaps it is so close to our core that opening up about it can make us feel vulnerable. A sensitive topic, and while researchers are currently busy figuring out how to compose future space crews in terms of culture, personality and gender, data about sexual behaviour and its effects on team dynamics in extreme environments is basically non-existent! How do we cope? How, why, and when do we suffer? Recent political debates and scandals of sexual harassment have already highlighted the importance of having a work environment free of sexual hostility, and if you ask me, it would be irresponsible to send humans on a multi-billion dollar long-duration mission to Mars without being able to answer these questions!
As such, the project SWICE (‘sexual well-being and sexual security in isolated, confined and extreme environments’), for the first time in spaceflight research history, is breaking the taboo. As the first study of its kind, it aims to gather basic information about human sexuality while living in isolation and confinement, and it does so by making us in Concordia talk:
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‘How often does another Concordia inhabitant asks me for sexual favours?’ (we better forget the jokes at the dinner table…), ‘How often does another Concordia inhabitant produces sexually explicit graffiti for display at Concordia?’ (we better forget the sexually explicit Play-Doh creations we made with the whole crew last month…), ‘How enjoyable is your sexual life right now?’, ‘How often do you masturbate?’, ‘How often do you experience an orgasm?’ (Damn, you want to know everything!).

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Let's talk science, Part 3: Mindfulness

6/3/2021

 
​We continue to follow along with the wonderful experience of ESA-sponsored Dr Stijn Thoolen during his year spent at the Concordia research station in Antarctica. Catch-up with his previous blogs at Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

Dr Stijn Thoolen

Medical Research Doctor, Concordia Research Station, Antarctica

Fortunately it is not all body fluids (and solids) in the ESA lab. Other projects are more interested in the psychological adaptation to space-like environments. How do we deal mentally with the isolation far from home, the confinement, monotony, and life in a small international crew? The experiences and stressors that crews face during such missions require a certain degree of mental resilience, or may otherwise result in cognitive or behavioural problems and a loss of performance that can be dangerous to both the crew and the mission. To facilitate such psychological adaptation and resilience, the scientists behind MINDFULICE (‘role of mindfulness disposition in an isolated and confined environment’) for example are investigating the use of ‘mindfulness’ as a tool for deep space missions.

‘But isn’t that something for Buddhist monks?’, I hear you question…
​
I actually like to think it is quite the opposite. And although maybe it isn’t an easy construct to grasp, we are all already mindful to a certain degree. Perhaps it is best to think of it as a mental process, of being aware in the present moment, welcoming what is new with an intention of kindness and compassion, and being open-minded enough to see new possibilities in any given situation rather than relying on what you have previously learned. Everyone does that to a certain degree, but everyone can also learn to do it more.
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Mindfulness is a process of actively making new distinctions about a situation and its environment, rather than relying on previous categories. Credits: Gary Larson, Far Side
Perhaps that is the biggest reason that the concept is gaining so much popularity so quickly. In our stressful and busy lives, mindfulness helps us to see solutions rather than problems, and research has already demonstrated many of its benefits, spanning from health and well-being to even business and artistic endeavours! A mindful attitude has shown to reduce stress while increasing resilience, task performance, enjoyment, psychological and even physical well-being, and in general a higher quality of life. That, I would say, is the promising power of the mind!
So can mindfulness also help astronauts to cope with the harshness of a deep space mission? We like to think so, but to find out we must first understand how it relates to stress and psychological wellbeing in such conditions, and Concordia serves as the ideal testing ground. Of course that means more tests for us, so over the year we fill in questionnaires and perform attention tasks to determine how mind- and stressful we actually are. And how about you? Are you mindful enough to one day float to the stars?
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An excellent demonstration of the power of the mind. Keeping your attention is not always easy in Concordia... Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–S. Thoolen
Note: this article was originally posted on the ESA blog website (LINK) and permission has been obtained to republish it here.

LET’S TALK SCIENCE, PART 2: IMMUNITY AND HYGIENE

17/2/2021

 
The next instalment of a fascinating blog series by ESA-sponsored Dr Stijn Thoolen who spent a year at the Concordia research station in Antarctica. Catch-up with his previous blogs at Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Dr Stijn Thoolen

Medical Research Doctor, Concordia Research Station, Antarctica

And so we keep delivering. Questionnaires about stress, physical and mental wellbeing, questionnaires about nutrition habits, stool samples, saliva samples, blood samples, taste tests with taste strips, smell tests with ‘Sniffin’ Sticks’. I make pictures of what I am eating twice a day, and our cook records our menu a whole year long. And, perhaps best of all, we all take a sachet every day, without even knowing if it contains a probiotic supplement, or nothing but just powder…
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Special delivery! You can see from this ‘I just pooped for you’-smile that the crew does love me for it…Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–S. Thoolen
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‘This reminds me of the dentist. And this of flower fields when I was young. And this one is industrial banana for sure!’ The ‘Sniffin’ Sticks’ induce vivid memories, but do our smell and taste change in this understimulating environment? And how does that relate to our eating habits? Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–S. Thoolen
This time the tests are for another study called ICELAND (‘immune and microbiome changes in environments with limited antigen diversity’). ICELAND doesn’t focus on altitude, but instead uses the homogeneous environment of Concordia, another stressor to our body and mind, as a testbed for examining changes in immune health. Have you ever thought of the idea that, just like in Concordia or in space, a lack of new bacteria and viruses can actually deteriorate your immune system? Have you ever considered that we may be too hygienic? Just like losing muscles when we spend too much time on the couch, or losing skills if we don’t practice our brain, we can lose immune function when it is not stimulated, and according to the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ this may be one of the reasons for an increased incidence of asthma and skin inflammation in children in developed countries. In a similar way, prolonged isolation and confinement in the stressful and ‘clean’ environments of Antarctica or space is thought to increase susceptibility to infections and even allergies!
But the immune system is complex, and the many interactions it holds with other body systems such as our digestive system and our brain are just being discovered. For example, changes in nutrition can have an effect on the composition and health of our gut bacteria, which in recent years have been found to play an important role in the development of immune-related diseases such as allergies and cancer. Other studies in addition have found gut health to be related to mental wellbeing as well. So can we maintain a healthy brain and a healthy immune system if we maintain a healthy gut? We still have much to learn about ourselves, and ICELAND aims to investigate these interesting interactions. Hence those daily sachets: comparing the test outcomes between those of us who took gut bacteria-stimulating probiotics and those who didn’t can give us valuable information about its potential to counter these health risks!
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Separating immune cells from the blood can help us understand how our immune system functions over the course of the winterover. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–S. Thoolen
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Storing stool with ESA’s mascot Paxi in a container just outside the station, for analysis of gut bacteria back in Europe. With all those samples I am lucky we have such a big freezer here! Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–S. Thoolen
Note: this article was originally posted on the ESA blog website (LINK) and permission has been obtained to republish it here.

SPACE TO INSPIRE: Habitat Marte & InnovaSpace Collaborate

11/2/2021

 

Julio Rezende

Director of Innovation at FAPERN/Coordinator of Space Analog Station @HabitatMarte

The space experience must be creative, cooperative and respectful. This is what the partnership established between the analog space station Habitat Marte and InnovaSpace is all about. The operationalization of the Habitat Marte project has permitted the bringing together of numerous enthusiastic people from the space area, this being the case for the virtual meeting that took place between myself and Thais Russomano, CEO of InnovaSpace.
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When I see how much more we can do to help children and young people through the debate, education and popularisation of science using the space theme, this generates a high state of consciousness. It’s excellent having the possibility of interacting with the right people in order to create genuine relationships and interest in the professional growth and development of others, thus collaborating for a better world, with more justice and prosperity, especially for those who would like to include themselves more in the aerospace field. Many people find the space theme to be very inspiring and it seems to foster confidence and a great sense of personal fulfilment. I observe this in the trajectory of many young people who see this area as a future professional field

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Let's Talk About Science: Part 1 - Altitude Problems

7/2/2021

 
The fascinating blog series chronicling a year in the life of ESA-sponsored Dr Stijn Thoolen at the Concordia research station in Antarctica continues. Catch-up with his previous blogs at Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6  

Dr Stijn Thoolen

Medical Research Doctor, Concordia Research Station, Antarctica

Concordia, July 28, 2020
Sunlight: none, but the skies are turning colours again!
Windchill temperature: -83°C
Mood: some days a little tired, and on others, like the skies, full of colour
If you have read my previous posts, you have probably had enough of the beautiful-environment-and-working-together-drivel, and I am guessing you are now thinking something along the lines of: weren’t you supposed to do space research?
Good question, and it makes me realise that perhaps it is time for something more interesting: science!
But I am not sure if an ESA blog can go without any music, so before we continue here is a nice tune to walk you through:
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Luca and Alberto are proud hivernauts as they help to investigate the skies above us. Luca and Alberto zijn trotse hivernauten die de hemel boven ons helpen onderzoeken. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–S. Thoolen
I already mentioned what a science-heaven Concordia actually is. From paleoclimatology to geophysics to astronomy: science is the whole reason that this station exists. But while most of it focuses on the unique environment we currently live in, ESA is rather interested in us living in this unique environment! Both the Antarctic and space are domains that we, humans, have started to explore only recently, and the mismatch between our ancient bodies and these new extreme environments poses the ultimate challenge to our system. How adaptable are we? Where lies the limit of our human resilience? What are the risks to our physical and mental health when we venture to these strange places, how does that impact future space travel, and are there ways to mitigate those risks? So, rather than the environment itself, it is our interaction with it that I find particularly interesting.
Take, for example, the altitude. Here in Concordia we live at an altitude that is equivalent to about 3800 meters above sea level at the equator. As such, it's as if the air were to contain about 40% less oxygen for us to breath, and you definitely feel that when you arrive here by plane. Low energy, panting with the slightest exercise, waking up gasping for air multiple times a night, headache, dizziness, loss of appetite. Some really get sick from it, and in rare cases people have to be sent back to the coast due to life-threatening build-up of fluid in the lungs or brain! Yet, in 1978 Messner and Habeler reached the summit of Mount Everest at an altitude of 8848 meters without using any supplemental oxygen at all. How? They allowed time for their bodies to adapt.
At Concordia it usually takes a few days before you feel better. As your body senses a decrease in oxygen pressure it immediately tries to save your cells from getting damaged by sucking in more air (breathing) and pump more oxygen through the body (by increasing heart rate), and subsequently starts up a remarkable cascade of physiological processes that eventually leads to an increased production of red blood cells. As a result, the composition of our blood can drastically change over weeks, to help deliver sufficient oxygen to each of our cells. Pretty cool, don’t you think? Even though after eight months I still find myself hyperventilating up the stairs and having miserable nights every once in a while, at least it allows me to go to beautiful places like Concordia!
The adaptation however comes with a trade-off: if the need for oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood is too high (at higher altitudes, where there is less oxygen) and too many red blood cells are made, the blood can become so thick that it increases the risk of blood clotting, high blood pressure in the lungs, and even heart failure! Such health issues have been seen in some people living permanently at high altitude. So how healthy actually is a year of adaptation at Concordia? Knowing that similar low oxygen conditions may exist in future space habitats for technical, economical and safety reasons, and considering the simultaneous blood volume alterations usually seen as an effect of microgravity, answering that question is important to understand astronaut health and safety during future long-duration space missions.
The ANTARCV study (‘alterations in total red blood cell volume and plasma volume during a one-year confinement in Antarctica: effect of hypoxia’) is implemented this year to do so. Each month the crew comes to the ESA lab for a lucky treatment of vein punctures, and an awkward procedure of breathing a very small and safe dose of carbon monoxide through small, restrictive tubes. This way I can determine our blood volumes. Besides I analyze how thick our blood is, store blood samples for further analysis in Europe, and we all wear a watch one week a month to record our activity. That way we make sure that the changes we see in blood volumes are not just a result of changes in physical activity. You can understand the crew loves me for it…
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ANTARCV on full speed. By administering carbon monoxide and determining the increase in its concentration in the blood, we can calculate how many red blood cells are circulating through the body/ANTARCV op volle snelheid. Door koolstofmonoxide toe te dienen en de concentratietoename te bepalen in het bloed, kunnen we berekenen hoeveel rode bloedcellen er door het lichaam circuleren. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–S. Thoolen
Still, all of us are participating in the research, and that is awesome! You see, doing human research here can be quite a challenge, not only because of language barriers, limited data transfer possibilities, or complex transportation logistics, but mostly so because the participation in these experiments is entirely voluntary. None of us works here primarily to serve as a test subject, and it is not that I can force anyone really… So to make sure I come home after a year with sufficient interesting data, I better make sure that everyone is happy with what we are doing here. For me perhaps a tricky mix between work and private life, but all for the good cause of science! After all, who doesn’t want to be part of the space program, bring benefit to future hivernauts and astronauts, and on top of that help to understand health challenges of our present-day society?
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From Boney M to Bach, I just try to keep things bearable in the ESA disco/Van Boney M tot Bach: ik probeer het maar een beetje dragelijk te houden in de ESA-disco. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–S. Thoolen
Note: this article was originally posted on the ESA blog website (LINK) and permission has been obtained to republish it here.

Goodbye Earth, Goodbye Sun...

8/10/2020

 
We welcome another blog by ESA-sponsored Dr Stijn Thoolen, currently spending 12 months at the Concordia research station in Antarctica conducting experiments. What an amazing experience - do take a look at his previous blogs (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) to follow his great adventure to the world's southernmost continent. 

Dr Stijn Thoolen

Medical Research Doctor, Concordia Research Station, Antarctica

Concordia, February 7, 2020
Sunlight: 24 hours (but not for long)
Windchill temperature: -45°C
Mood: a little roller coaster

​
At this moment I am just plain excited. Next to me the rest of the DC16 crew are having their own emotions. Our freshly inaugurated station leader Alberto, draped in the colours of our three national flags, came up with the idea to have our national anthems playing while the last Basler plane of the summer campaign leaves Dome C. So here I stand, hearing my own voice on maximum volume pronouncing a Dutch translation of too patriotic sentences from the station’s speakers, and with the Dutch ‘Wilhelmus’ screaming over the Antarctic plateau as an official start of our winter over. Haha, such an unrealistic scenario! And while those sounds are quickly overruled by the roaring engines of the plane, and with snow blowing in our faces, I can only smile. There goes our last connection to the rest of the earth, disappearing into the distant sky. Unbelievable!
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The last plane left us, wondering what to think… Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–S. Thoolen
I guess I have already spilled all of my emotions at this point. In the past few days, more and more planes have been taking away more and more of the beautiful people we enjoyed our summertime with, and the station has become more and more empty. Funny: they were already leaving, and I have the idea we just started… It has been an exciting idea on the one hand, but the closer we came to being left alone, the more and more confronting that got on the other. When two days earlier another plane left with sixteen more people, the goodbyes were harsh, with everyone in tears again. You know, those healthy ones. And when it was gone, those left on the ice slowly returned back to the station, all silent, all caught in their own thoughts. It had been an intense few summer months, and this was the weird moment of realization that it had come to an end, with a big unknown lying ahead. I guess the blend of feelings has been a repetition of those during the days before my departure to the Antarctic. Perhaps a little lighter this time.
The last weeks we have tried to prepare for this moment. Unloading the last boxes of fresh food, a last guided skidoo (snowmobile) tour (to your right you see snow, to your left you also see snow) to make sure we have seen all the important locations for winter in case of emergency for example, learning how to process the waste so that it can be shipped back to France next year, a final bunch of spare parts arriving just in time, and last year’s biomedical samples finally shipped back for analysis in Europe. And while we have concluded that the summer was mostly a good one, and some of the changes apparently need some time to process, we are all actually mostly looking forward to what is going to come. After all, this is what we came for!

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