Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

louis · 2021-05-16 17:39:57

Stir crazy...cabin fever...it goes by different names but being "locked up" (even voluntarily, as in an Antarctic base) with no ability to get out and about in the fresh air is known to be a serious problem.

Being indoors and not being able to go outdoors creates challenges for human beings.

We don't want our Mars settlers to go crazy or to feel they are being denied the things that make us feel human.

But there's no getting away from it, at a minimum of hundreds of years, human life on Mars is going to be a life lived principally indoors, not outside. And even when outside, it will be a life mostly lived in a hermetically sealed space suit...

I think we need to think creatively about how we deal with this because otherwise Mars will not be an attractive place to live.

Here are some ideas about how we might meet the challenge:

1. Ensure Mars pioneers get the chance for frequent outdoor excursions in pressurised vehicles whcih they can drive.

2 . Ensure they are given the opportunity in high summer on Mars to undertake EVAs in special space suits that allow for some Mars breeze to reach the face and hands (mesh material).

3. Swimming and diving. We can create indoor opporuntiies for swimming and diving. Diving could be an effective substitute for the outdoor experience especially if we create a kind of tropical underwater environment.

4. Create Earth-like Environments e.g. (covered and pressurised) gorges with Earth like flora and fauna. These can be interconnected by tunnels. Someone could walk or cycle for tens of miles moving through this system.

5. In some parts of the ElEs there should be simulations of wind and rain.

6. Flotation tank session may in some part offer a subsitute for being out in the natural world.

7. In the absence of everyday wind and rain, it will be important for humans to have the opportunity to give their bodies a break from normal experience. So things like saunas, waterfalls, massage and sunbeds will be important.

8. The absence of opportunities to be out in the natural world as on Earth will mean that the art component of living on Mars will be even more important. Mars residents will need stimulating art about them at all times: statues, paintings, film shows, galleries and so on.

9. Things like indoor gardens will be important.

10. Sport and gyms will be an important element in allowing our bodies that sense of freedom.

11. All Mars residents should be encouraged to become part of exploration missions. This would be a bit like national or reserve military service in some countries. It would get people out of their everyday lives. Maybe for three weeks every (earth) year they would take part in an exploratory mission...mapping, geological surveys, etc

12. Could virtual reality (VR helmet) experiences offer some feeling of escape?

13. Would breathing pure oxygen for a few minutes each week help?

Any other suggestions?

tahanson43206 · 2021-05-16 19:23:40

For Louis re new topic ...

Best wishes for success with this (from my perspective) important new topic ...

Earlier in the forum archive (if memory serves) there is documentation of the coping mechanisms that people who live in Northern Scandinavian countries deal with being indoors for months at a time with no or little sunshine.

As i read you list, I felt many of the items would be helpful.

I would like to point out that books (reading) are a time honored way of transporting one's self to distant lands or times. Science fiction readers (of which Mars_B4_Moon appears to be one) are treated to transport to distant places in the Solar system, distant galaxies, and even (on occasion) distant Universes.

Traditional forms of performance art may have been included in your list. Plays, small scale theater, musical performances of various scales and other social events would seem likely to me to be popular. I recall (as an example) performances of chamber music on the Star Trek Voyager series.

In thinking about your theme, and inspired by recollection of Star Trek, it occurs to me that creators of Star Trek and other science fiction extrapolations of the future have been attempting to deal with the challenges of life in remote places within a hostile environment.

***
Regarding oxygen ... I suspect you've not had time to closely read everything that's been published in the forum over time.

RobertDyck, in particular, has recommended pure oxygen for EVA equipment on Mars and on his large Ship on multiple occasions.

So, following up on your suggestion ... an EVA (to an agricultural facility operating with gas mixture best suited for plants) or out of doors would provide pure Oxygen for the duration of the EVA.

(th)

louis · 2021-05-16 20:11:43

Yes the Nordic countries are something like a template but they do have summer in Sweden, Norway and Finland when they can enjoy the outdoors and the light evenings. That won't be possible on Mars.

But the Scandinavian liking for saunas is instructive I think...they are being deprived of warm air on their bodies and so they go for this extreme of sauna. That's the sort of thing that will be required on Mars I feel: things that make the body feel alive. And then maybe every couple of (Earth) years you get the chance to go outside in Mars high summer and feel the breeze on your skin under a mesh glove and face mask.

tahanson43206 wrote:

For Louis re new topic ...
Best wishes for success with this (from my perspective) important new topic ...
Earlier in the forum archive (if memory serves) there is documentation of the coping mechanisms that people who live in Northern Scandinavian countries deal with being indoors for months at a time with no or little sunshine.
As i read you list, I felt many of the items would be helpful.
I would like to point out that books (reading) are a time honored way of transporting one's self to distant lands or times. Science fiction readers (of which Mars_B4_Moon appears to be one) are treated to transport to distant places in the Solar system, distant galaxies, and even (on occasion) distant Universes.
Traditional forms of performance art may have been included in your list. Plays, small scale theater, musical performances of various scales and other social events would seem likely to me to be popular. I recall (as an example) performances of chamber music on the Star Trek Voyager series.
In thinking about your theme, and inspired by recollection of Star Trek, it occurs to me that creators of Star Trek and other science fiction extrapolations of the future have been attempting to deal with the challenges of life in remote places within a hostile environment.
***
Regarding oxygen ... I suspect you've not had time to closely read everything that's been published in the forum over time.
RobertDyck, in particular, has recommended pure oxygen for EVA equipment on Mars and on his large Ship on multiple occasions.
So, following up on your suggestion ... an EVA (to an agricultural facility operating with gas mixture best suited for plants) or out of doors would provide pure Oxygen for the duration of the EVA.
(th)

RobertDyck · 2021-05-16 20:18:21

Mars Homestead was a project to design the first permanent human base. Intended for 12 settlers. Bruce MacKenzie insisted that no return vehicle. That version had large greenhouses for food, but also non-food agricultural products: bamboo and hemp. Bamboo could be used for hardwood floor, and various things. Hemp for clothing, and also various things. Settlers could wander through the greenhouse to get some "greenery". I argued strenuously for ambient light greenhouse, a couple other guys argued for buried greenhouse with artificial light. Project manager compromised: some of each.

And the central atrium, buried deep within a hill, with a light pipe above each vault ceiling, and a light diffuser at the apex of each vault. So natural light in the atrium.

Larger settlement would have something larger. I argued crops that require "full sun" would be in a "long narrow" greenhouse oriented east-west, with mirrors along the long sides. Ceiling and walls all transparent glass to let light in. Crops that thrive in shade can be grown in a dome greenhouse: transparent roof.

Biosphere 2 discovered trees require wind. Without wind, tree limbs (large branches) don't develop sufficient strength. They had entire tree limbs randomly break off. To ensure tree limbs develop sufficient strength, they must be stressed by wind. So that means large fans in a greenhouse with trees: oscillating fans that turn to face different trees, so wind stress varies.

RobertDyck · 2021-05-16 20:32:04

louis wrote:

Yes the Nordic countries are something like a template but they do have summer in Sweden, Norway and Finland when they can enjoy the outdoors and the light evenings. That won't be possible on Mars.

Psha! Sweden, Norway and Finland are warm! Murmansk Russia is warm. Faroe Islands is warm. Svalbard (formerly known as Spitzbergen) is warm. There's no where west of the Ural mountains as cold as where I live. I live in Winnipeg. Beautiful warm summers, but freeze-your-ass-off cold winters. Cities in Russia with temperature most similar are Tomsk or Omsk, Siberia. They're in southern Siberia, but still Siberia.

Winnipeg only has snow on the ground 5 months of the year. Bitter cold the middle 3 months. During those cold months, daytime high on a mild winter day is a degree or two above freezing. A cold snap can last 2 weeks at a time. During a cold snap, daytime high is below -20°C (-4°F), and overnight low is between -30°C and -40°C. That's real temperature, not windchill. The absolute low of -40°C doesn't happen very often: one day in 2019, and one night in 2005. So 14 years between occurrences, but it does happen. Yes, -40°C = -40°F.

During a cold snap, you stay inside. You can go outside, but wear a parka, toque, mittens (not gloves), scarf around your neck, t-shirt and long-sleeve shirt, and sweater under the parka, jeans and long underwear (some people wear ski pants over their jeans), and snow boots. The only body part exposed to air is your face. Yes, kids go tobogganing in cold weather.

RobertDyck · 2021-05-16 21:12:18

Mars spacesuit: MCP

Skin-tight elastic leotard over your entire body.
Elastic gloves.
Silicone gel filled pads over genitals to spread force from the strong elastic, in the crack of your ass, and trough of lumbo-dorsal spine.
At 4.3 PSI you need silicone gel pads in palm of hands and back of hands, as well as arm pits. At 3.0 PSI (original Apollo CM pressure and my recommendation for spacesuit) or 3.3 PSI (original design pressure for Apollo spacesuit) or 3.7 PSI (pressure for Apollo spacesuits as worn on the Moon), those pads aren't necessary.
Pressurized boots. Can be designed like leather work boots with neoprene air bladder liner, or more likely Telemark ski boots, which are hard with joint at ankle. Either way, neoprene rubber air dam at the top of the boot to keep air pressure in.
Head-worn helmet, like closed-face motorcycle helmet. Closed-cell foam inside hard helmet shell, then plastic air bladder inside that, then open-cell comfort layer inside that. This is literally a crash helmet. If your head hits a rock and cracks the shell, the inner bladder will hold air pressure. Neoprene air dam at the neck. Will require steel cables holding the helmet down, so it doesn't pop-off your head. Cables attached to your vest.
Neoprene air bladder vest. This is a "counter lung" for the rebreather system. Non-elastic fabric outside the vest, or better yet a thin vacuformed plastic shell to hold the vest close to your body. To give the thin plastic strength, add fluting like a medieval knight's steel armour. To ensure fluting doesn't cut into the air bladder, it should be rounded. Fluting can be aesthetic: muscle plate for men, large breasts for women.
This suit will require a thermal and scuff layer over all that. Micrometeoroids burn up in Mars atmosphere, so you don't need a micrometeoroid protection layer. But a scuff layer like an alpine mountain climbing parka. So this literally means a parka and ski pants. And ski gloves over the elastic gloves.
PLSS backpack will be much lighter than the Apollo A7L-B. With MCP, when you get hot, you seat. So no underwear with plastic tubes for cooling, no heat exchanger in the backpack, and no water sprayed on the heat exchanger to sublimate into space. Instead you just have a bottle of drinking water: 1 litre plastic pop bottle. With plastic liner like a Platex Nurser baby bottle. Water in the liner, with a plastic tube to the helmet for you to drink. Second tube from helmet to the bottle to allow air in. Liner separates water from air.
One-way valves for air hoses, so action of breathing circulates air: from helmet to vest, from vest to CO2 sorbent in backpack, from sorbet to helmet. Each hose has a one-way valve. So no fan required. That means no power required; you don't have to worry about a battery freezing.
Vest could be connected via direct attachment to backpack, instead of a hose. Hose from helmet to vest could connect to vest in the back. So only one hose on each side of the head. And hoses can connect to back of helmet to stay out of the way.
O2 bottle, with pressure regulator to hose to your helmet.
Suit microcontroller installed in helmet, so heat from your body keeps it warm. Controller is a smartphone in a pocket of one forearm. Bluetooth between smartphone, microcontroller, and headset (microphone/ear piece).

Total will be quite light. I could look up how much O2 the Apollo A7L-B suit carried. A7L was used for Apollo 11-14. A7L-B was used for Apollo 15-17, it had more O2. Apollo suit used aluminum alloy for O2 tank; today we would use a carbon overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) to reduce mass.

Instead of lithium-hydroxide (LiOH) to absorb CO2, we would use silver oxide granules. They have more mass, but can be regenerated. EMU suits for ISS have been upgraded, use silver oxide sheet metal, regenerated with a toaster oven. But I have a paper about microwave regeneration, it requires granules.

Total is much lower mass than Apollo spacesuit.

RobertDyck · 2021-05-16 22:03:14

A7L-B operator manual from NASA: Apollo Operations Handbook Extravehicular Mobility Unit
March 1971
Volume I
System Description
CSD-A-789-(1)
Apollo 15-17

Page 2.88, or PDF page 108, schematic if primary oxygen system. With specifications:
Primary O2 bottle
1410 ±30 psia
370 in³
1.34 lb available for EVA at 1380 psia and 70°F

Converting to metric:
1410 psi = 97.216 bar
370 in³ = 6.063 litres
1.34 lb = 0.6078 kg

Carbon Overwrapped Pressure Vessel (COPV) from one manufacturer: Meyer COPV
Part No. HDRX-030
3.0 litre
Work pressure 300 bar
Weight 1.30 kg
Diameter 116 mm, length 444 mm

Yes, the example bottle has half the volume, but supports 3 times the pressure. It's the closest I could find. Google didn't find a lot of manufacturers. At half volume but 3 times pressure, this bottle can handle 1.5 times mass of oxygen. A7L-B was rated for 7 hours EVA.

louis · 2021-05-17 04:39:30

I envisage EVAs being undertaken with robodogs coming along for the hike, carrying oxygen and other supplies. Also a rover could self drive at some distance, so you are never very far from the shelter of the rover.

RobertDyck wrote:

A7L-B operator manual from NASA: Apollo Operations Handbook Extravehicular Mobility Unit
March 1971
Volume I
System Description
CSD-A-789-(1)
Apollo 15-17
Page 2.88, or PDF page 108, schematic if primary oxygen system. With specifications:
Primary O2 bottle
1410 ±30 psia
370 in³
1.34 lb available for EVA at 1380 psia and 70°F
Converting to metric:
1410 psi = 97.216 bar
370 in³ = 6.063 litres
1.34 lb = 0.6078 kg
Carbon Overwrapped Pressure Vessel (COPV) from one manufacturer: Meyer COPV
Part No. HDRX-030
3.0 litre
Work pressure 300 bar
Weight 1.30 kg
Diameter 116 mm, length 444 mm
Yes, the example bottle has half the volume, but supports 3 times the pressure. It's the closest I could find. Google didn't find a lot of manufacturers. At half volume but 3 times pressure, this bottle can handle 1.5 times mass of oxygen. A7L-B was rated for 7 hours EVA.

louis · 2021-05-17 04:41:11

So, in high summer on Mars, do you think the hands and possibly face could be partially exposed with some sort of mesh covering, so as to allow you to feel the air on your skin? I suppose dust would be an issue.

RobertDyck wrote:

Mars spacesuit: MCP
Skin-tight elastic leotard over your entire body.
Elastic gloves.
Silicone gel filled pads over genitals to spread force from the strong elastic, in the crack of your ass, and trough of lumbo-dorsal spine.
At 4.3 PSI you need silicone gel pads in palm of hands and back of hands, as well as arm pits. At 3.0 PSI (original Apollo CM pressure and my recommendation for spacesuit) or 3.3 PSI (original design pressure for Apollo spacesuit) or 3.7 PSI (pressure for Apollo spacesuits as worn on the Moon), those pads aren't necessary.
Pressurized boots. Can be designed like leather work boots with neoprene air bladder liner, or more likely Telemark ski boots, which are hard with joint at ankle. Either way, neoprene rubber air dam at the top of the boot to keep air pressure in.
Head-worn helmet, like closed-face motorcycle helmet. Closed-cell foam inside hard helmet shell, then plastic air bladder inside that, then open-cell comfort layer inside that. This is literally a crash helmet. If your head hits a rock and cracks the shell, the inner bladder will hold air pressure. Neoprene air dam at the neck. Will require steel cables holding the helmet down, so it doesn't pop-off your head. Cables attached to your vest.
Neoprene air bladder vest. This is a "counter lung" for the rebreather system. Non-elastic fabric outside the vest, or better yet a thin vacuformed plastic shell to hold the vest close to your body. To give the thin plastic strength, add fluting like a medieval knight's steel armour. To ensure fluting doesn't cut into the air bladder, it should be rounded. Fluting can be aesthetic: muscle plate for men, large breasts for women.
This suit will require a thermal and scuff layer over all that. Micrometeoroids burn up in Mars atmosphere, so you don't need a micrometeoroid protection layer. But a scuff layer like an alpine mountain climbing parka. So this literally means a parka and ski pants. And ski gloves over the elastic gloves.
PLSS backpack will be much lighter than the Apollo A7L-B. With MCP, when you get hot, you seat. So no underwear with plastic tubes for cooling, no heat exchanger in the backpack, and no water sprayed on the heat exchanger to sublimate into space. Instead you just have a bottle of drinking water: 1 litre plastic pop bottle. With plastic liner like a Platex Nurser baby bottle. Water in the liner, with a plastic tube to the helmet for you to drink. Second tube from helmet to the bottle to allow air in. Liner separates water from air.
One-way valves for air hoses, so action of breathing circulates air: from helmet to vest, from vest to CO2 sorbent in backpack, from sorbet to helmet. Each hose has a one-way valve. So no fan required. That means no power required; you don't have to worry about a battery freezing.
Vest could be connected via direct attachment to backpack, instead of a hose. Hose from helmet to vest could connect to vest in the back. So only one hose on each side of the head. And hoses can connect to back of helmet to stay out of the way.
O2 bottle, with pressure regulator to hose to your helmet.
Suit microcontroller installed in helmet, so heat from your body keeps it warm. Controller is a smartphone in a pocket of one forearm. Bluetooth between smartphone, microcontroller, and headset (microphone/ear piece).
Total will be quite light. I could look up how much O2 the Apollo A7L-B suit carried. A7L was used for Apollo 11-14. A7L-B was used for Apollo 15-17, it had more O2. Apollo suit used aluminum alloy for O2 tank; today we would use a carbon overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) to reduce mass.
Instead of lithium-hydroxide (LiOH) to absorb CO2, we would use silver oxide granules. They have more mass, but can be regenerated. EMU suits for ISS have been upgraded, use silver oxide sheet metal, regenerated with a toaster oven. But I have a paper about microwave regeneration, it requires granules.
Total is much lower mass than Apollo spacesuit.

RobertDyck · 2021-05-17 09:09:13

louis wrote:

So, in high summer on Mars, do you think the hands and possibly face could be partially exposed with some sort of mesh covering, so as to allow you to feel the air on your skin? I suppose dust would be an issue.

No, I'm saying a light-weight spacesuit will allow you to go outside. Something you can put on fairly quickly. I'm not a big fan of wind. When I was a young child, my father would take the children tobogganing at Spring Hill. When daytime temperature was -26°C or -20something, wind isn't pleasant. You needed to be bundled up. It does get that cold here. My father worked during the week, so he wanted to get out himself. So on a Saturday in the depth of winter, he would take us out. Late afternoon when the Sun got lower in the sky, temperature dropped. When we got too cold, it was time to go home. But seriously, we didn't wear ski gloves, we wore mittens. Ski gloves weren't warm enough.

A mechanical counter pressure (MCP) spacesuit includes elastic gloves. In high summer on Mars you could take your outer ski glove off, keep the MCP glove on. It's a lot more than mesh. The threads are designed so any gap is smaller than 1mm square. "High summer" can get so warm that air temperature at ground level gets above freezing, but realize the ground will still be very cold. If air temperature at ground level during the day is between 0°C and +24°C, then air at the top of your head will be 10°C colder. And temperature at night will still be -70°C to -78°C. So picking up rocks...

This is the first MCP spacesuit prototype. From Dr Paul Webb's paper, published in the Journal of Aerospace Medicine, April 1968. He submitted the paper for publication in December 1967, and did the work earlier in 1967. This version didn't have the air bladder vest, that was added for the second version, part of his contractor report to NASA, November 1971. Notice the helmet is the same as an Apollo pressure helmet. Not the Apollo micrometeoroid over-helmet. But you may like the gloves; they're very tight elastic. GW Johnson calls this "spacesuit underwear". Well, it's the pressure layer. Dr Webb was hoping it would be used by Apollo on the Moon. Unfortunately wasn't ready in time for Apollo 11. The Moon has no atmosphere, so does have micrometeoroids. Imagine ski pants, parka, and ski gloves worn over this, with the same outer fabric as Apollo spacesuits. Apollo used Beta fabric, EMU today uses Orthofabric.

Now imagine taking off the outer ski glove, and just wearing these gloves. On a warm Mars day in high summer, you could. Just be careful what you touch because rocks will be cold.

tahanson43206 · 2021-05-17 09:55:12

For Louis re topic ...

Some years ago, while attending a tech event at a local University, I met a gent who'd returned from an over-winter tour at an Antarctic research station.

This person chose not to become a member of the forum. He is already super busy with career and numerous interests that take up all his free time.

However, I wrote today to inquire if he might be willing to let me serve as a poster on his behalf, for an occasional update based upon his experience.

If he is interested, I can pull one of the newly refurbished User ID's out of storage, and create an account to represent his input to the forum.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2021-05-17 13:44:43

For Louis ...

The Antarctic vet was kind enough to send this snapshot ... it closes with an invitation to see more at a web site at a link provided.

> There is another opportunity for your experience to be given exposure,
> in the context of the NewMars ongoing discussions.
>
> While you may prefer not to establish an account in the forum (makes
> sense to me so no problem), there is an alternative that might work.
Yes. I find Forums to be way too time consuming to warrant constant
monitoring and they only last as long as someone actively maintains
them. They are the cul de sacs of the Internet.
The topic is interesting but I am way too overloaded right now to be
adding things. I'm not really even keeping up with regular
correspondence. This is the sort of topic that can occupy chapters of
books.
In short: even in the Winter at Pole, we go outside. Vehicles don't
work reliably below -85F. It's over a kilometer from the Station to
the Ice Cube Lab. There are several remote buildings in the Dark
Sector. Unless you are hauling cryogens or drinking water, you walk.
It was about a 20-25 minute walk for me with summer gear and 40
minutes in the winter (dark, plus heavier boots plus I'm short so I
walk up one side the drifts and down the other where 6'-tall-guys step
over them. Tall guys could get to the Ice Cube lab 15 minutes ahead
of me).
There are YouTube videos of people putting on ECW gear for outdoor
activities at Pole. The stuff we get is good for 4-6 hours of being
outside but I wouldn't want to go 7-8 hours. Too tiring.
We routinely go out at -100F to -110F (it doesn't usually get colder
at Pole) Obviously air pressure isn't a problem (avg 650 mb in the
winter, about 2/3 sea level - never saw lower than about 620mb, and
summertime, over 700mb is record-setting territory). We don't use
heated suits, we just trap body heat in multiple layers
(polypropylene, down/fiber fill, fleece, nylon outer shell for
wind...) Boots have multiple insulating layers (felt, quilted fiber
fill, polypro...) because you don't want to lose heat through the
soles of your feet standing on -100F snow.
There are people who literally do not go outside for 8 months. Not
many, usually galley workers or office people. Some people go outside
every day. Most are in-between. Recreation at -70F to -80F isn't bad
once you've acclimated. -65F is nicer. -55F is positively balmy for
Winter. Colder than -90F and even Polies pay extra attention to their
gear before going outside for a walk.
One winter, we had a teleconference with the earth-based crew working
the Mars Phoenix Lander (one of their number was a former South Pole
winterover). We realized during the call that it was 10-15 degrees
warmer where the probe was than the temp 10 feet from where we were
sitting at Pole.
That's the short version. Invite people to look at a few pictures and
read about some of my days there at penguincentral.com
Cheers,

(th)

SpaceNut · 2021-05-17 16:40:16

All of the societies analog stations have been dealing with this one aspect of the human mind in all of its many years of operating. They have a good feel for what will work and what will not from the ground observations of the many missions that have been conducted.
Then you have the Russian 500 day mission as well for this same data points to be made in that a schedule of planned day will aid in the conditioning to give one a busy day and evening leaving the mind distracted so as to not want what you can not have.
The break for the day onboard the ISS is via taking a time in the Cupola area of the station. Then again caring for the plants that you may or may not eat is also refreshing to the soul.

louis · 2021-05-17 17:20:50

Very interesting - thanks TA.

Yes, I would only propose leisure hiking on Mars in high summer in the early afternoon when you can get a couple of hours of reasonable temperatues - anything up to the high 20s celius, if I recall correctly, so...fine for walking. That's air temperature I guess...I don't what the ground temperature might be...maybe you'd need Antarctic style footwear.

I don't think people would be undertaking EVAs on a daily basis on Mars.

The high summer hiking season would be something to look forward to. Maybe there would be well known hiking routes with shelters along the way, if you want to spend days out in the wilderness. The shelters could have oxygen, food, water and sanitary facilities. I think if people had their self-drive rovers nearby and their faithful robodogs walking with them, they should be quite safe. With MCPs you could probably cycle as well. Electric scooters might be another option.

tahanson43206 wrote:

For Louis ...
The Antarctic vet was kind enough to send this snapshot ... it closes with an invitation to see more at a web site at a link provided.
> There is another opportunity for your experience to be given exposure,
> in the context of the NewMars ongoing discussions.
>
> While you may prefer not to establish an account in the forum (makes
> sense to me so no problem), there is an alternative that might work.
Yes. I find Forums to be way too time consuming to warrant constant
monitoring and they only last as long as someone actively maintains
them. They are the cul de sacs of the Internet.
The topic is interesting but I am way too overloaded right now to be
adding things. I'm not really even keeping up with regular
correspondence. This is the sort of topic that can occupy chapters of
books.
In short: even in the Winter at Pole, we go outside. Vehicles don't
work reliably below -85F. It's over a kilometer from the Station to
the Ice Cube Lab. There are several remote buildings in the Dark
Sector. Unless you are hauling cryogens or drinking water, you walk.
It was about a 20-25 minute walk for me with summer gear and 40
minutes in the winter (dark, plus heavier boots plus I'm short so I
walk up one side the drifts and down the other where 6'-tall-guys step
over them. Tall guys could get to the Ice Cube lab 15 minutes ahead
of me).
There are YouTube videos of people putting on ECW gear for outdoor
activities at Pole. The stuff we get is good for 4-6 hours of being
outside but I wouldn't want to go 7-8 hours. Too tiring.
We routinely go out at -100F to -110F (it doesn't usually get colder
at Pole) Obviously air pressure isn't a problem (avg 650 mb in the
winter, about 2/3 sea level - never saw lower than about 620mb, and
summertime, over 700mb is record-setting territory). We don't use
heated suits, we just trap body heat in multiple layers
(polypropylene, down/fiber fill, fleece, nylon outer shell for
wind...) Boots have multiple insulating layers (felt, quilted fiber
fill, polypro...) because you don't want to lose heat through the
soles of your feet standing on -100F snow.
There are people who literally do not go outside for 8 months. Not
many, usually galley workers or office people. Some people go outside
every day. Most are in-between. Recreation at -70F to -80F isn't bad
once you've acclimated. -65F is nicer. -55F is positively balmy for
Winter. Colder than -90F and even Polies pay extra attention to their
gear before going outside for a walk.
One winter, we had a teleconference with the earth-based crew working
the Mars Phoenix Lander (one of their number was a former South Pole
winterover). We realized during the call that it was 10-15 degrees
warmer where the probe was than the temp 10 feet from where we were
sitting at Pole.
That's the short version. Invite people to look at a few pictures and
read about some of my days there at penguincentral.com
Cheers,
(th)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2024-04-20 10:13:53

Many studies already at research at the South Pole, known for its harsh climate and long, dark winters.

The Importance of Public Health in Antarctica
https://blog.cord.edu/newvoices/2024/04 … inda-chen/

Chronotype delay and sleep disturbances shaped by the Antarctic polar night
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-43102-0

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#1 2021-05-16 17:39:57

Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

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Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

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Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

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Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

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Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

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Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

#8 2021-05-17 04:39:30

Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

#9 2021-05-17 04:41:11

Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

#10 2021-05-17 09:09:13

Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

#11 2021-05-17 09:55:12

Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

#12 2021-05-17 13:44:43

Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

#13 2021-05-17 16:40:16

Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

#14 2021-05-17 17:20:50

Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

#15 2024-04-20 10:13:53

Re: Curbing cabin fever on Mars...

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