In the depths of the Antarctic winter, expeditioners at Australiaâs research bases might as well be on the Moon. Or on their way to Mars.
âWhen you are in Antarctica you know you canât get out â thereâs no rescue during winter. And that changes oneâs mentality,â said Des Lugg, head of polar medicine at the Australian Antarctic Division from 1968-2001 and now a consultant to NASA.
âYou can get back faster from the International Space Station than you can from the Antarctic in the depths of winter,â he said.
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Itâs that very isolation that makes Australiaâs Antarctic bases and their expeditioners perfect for planning long-term space missions, he said.
Since 1993, NASA has run a joint programme with the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) studying human health and how small groups adapt to many months of isolation working in the coldest place on Earth.
âAustraliaâs Antarctic programme has some of the most isolated stations in Antarctica where we have total isolation for up to nine months of the year,â said Jeff Ayton, the divisionâs chief medical officer.
Extreme environments
He said Australiaâs Antarctic stations were good analogues for space travel and figuring out how people get along in close environments.
âItâs an extreme environment and weâve got real people in real hazardous situations and their survival is dependent on technology and complex systems not too dissimilar to survival in space,â Ayton said. âWe also have wide experience of the medical conditions that can occur in Antarctic stations and they are of interest to people planning for long-term missions to Mars and other exploratory missions.â
In particular, NASA has shown interest in the divisionâs decades-old experience in using super-generalist doctors at its bases. Some of these have been recruited from rural Australia, home of the traditional country doctor who is adept at tackling just about any medical challenge.
Weaker immune systems
Doctors down south have conducted brain surgery, fixed fractures and given counselling on mental health problems. âWe have managed pregnancies in Antarctica. That is part of the medical spectrum we have to deal with,â Ayton said.
Such broad experience would be crucial on a long-term mission to Mars or beyond. Other medical conditions also present challenges.
Studies have shown that Antarctic expeditioners suffer vitamin D deficiencies through lack of sunlight and depression, as well as weaker immune systems.
Ayton said studies have shown the reactivation of latent viruses, such as the Epstein-Barr virus or other members of the herpes virus family.
âItâs not fully known to date what causes immune suppression. Weâve looked at psychological factors on the immune system. Weâve looked at vitamin D effects on the immune system and the stresses in small, confined environments,â he said, adding studies have shown similar changes to the immune system in space.
Re-activated viruses
Lugg said viruses tend to lie dormant in the body and then reactivate in space or in Antarctica.
âNo one has exhibited any clinical disease. This is the other interesting thing. Although they have altered their immune status, there is no clinical disease that weâve been able to detect in Antarctica to show for the altered immune response,â he said.
Mental health is another top issue. Being confined to a small base with a dozen or so colleagues for months away from family and friends can be a major source of stress for some expeditioners.
Lugg and Ayton said the vast number of people adapted well to life in Antarctica with only very rare cases of expeditioners suffering mental breakdowns.
Lugg did a 25-year study of documented behavioural health problems in Antarctica and said the incidence rate was 4% of all primary consultations to the base doctor.
Psychotic event
âYou have sleep problems, but what you are looking for are the classic psychosis episodes,â Lugg said. âThere was a guy one year who heard babies cry. He came to the doctor and he said âIâm hearing voicesâ. Fortunately, he was able to be got out because it was just before the close of winter.â
While such cases were rare, having just one episode in Antarctica or in space could be disastrous. âHowever many you have going to Mars in a tin can and someone has a major psychotic event, they are going to have great difficulty handling that,â Lugg said.
Pre-expedition health and psychological screening were crucial, and in the future hopeful expeditioners might also be subjected to genetic testing.
âWe donât take asthmatics, you donât take anyone whoâs epileptic, whoâs on cardiac medication or had a cardiac problem, hypertension â you screen out a vast number of people,â said Lugg, who spent five years working in Washington with NASAâs Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer until 2006.
Amorous liaisons
Also crucial were the ânicetiesâ, said Lugg, such as understanding human nature as well as cultural differences. âWhen you are dealing with humans, youâve got to get back to the very basics, and that is their ability to live together, to work together and the health side of it.â
This included fighting boredom by providing a good variety of food. It also meant understanding that sex and a glass or two of wine with dinner were normal desires.
Ayton said there were no restrictions on expeditioners when it came to sex. Whatever amorous liaisons occurred between expeditioners were their own business during the nine months or more away from families (see Out-of-this-world sex could jeopardise missions).
âAustraliaâs Antarctic stations are no different to any other Australian community,â said Ayton, echoing Luggâs view that it was crucial to keep base life as normal as possible.
