Header image: Lupinus albus (altramuces o chochitos), by Calapito via Wikimedia Commons.
21.08.2023 - 11:49 / theunconventionalgardener.com / guest
Header image: A researcher in a spacesuit on “Mars” outside the Mars Society Desert Research Station in Utah. David Howells/Corbis Historical via Getty Images
Words by Inga Popovaite, University of Iowa
I was supposed to travel to “Mars” this month. The plan was to stay two weeks at the Mars Desert Research Station – actually in the Utah desert – to simulate human operations on the red planet. Eight of us were to live in a two-story cylinder, 24 feet in diameter. We would conserve water and put on mock spacesuits every time we ventured outside.
But, in an ironic twist, the coronavirus pandemic and the worldwide spread of social distancing put on hold our simulation of isolation on Mars.
My main goal had been to collect data for my dissertation. I research groups in space-analog environments – isolated and confined places that share characteristics with human space missions. I’m especially interested in the way gender contributes to individuals’ influence within a group and how men and women manage their emotions in isolation and confinement.
I will not go to “Mars” this spring. As I am self-isolating at home, though, I keep thinking about what lessons for future space travel the current situation can provide. Astronauts have shared tips on how to survive long periods of loneliness and isolation. Maybe in return, the experiences of millions living under lockdown can offer insights into previously understudied social effects of isolation and aid future space travel.
Let me be clear: By no means am I denying the seriousness of the pandemic, and I am not reducing vitally important social distancing measures to a set of convenient social observations.
However, the more researchers understand the social effects of isolation on
Header image: Lupinus albus (altramuces o chochitos), by Calapito via Wikimedia Commons.
Word by Matt de Neef, The Conversation
At times, usually when I supposed to be doing something else because I’m a grad student and procrastination of some form seems to be part of the gig, I find myself planning what plants I would include in an imaginary biodome on a inhospitable planet many astronomical units away. Imaginary biodomes are one of my favourite thought exercises – to me it is the perfect fusion of my love of space exploration and my attempts to grow as much as my own food as I can in my small backyard.
Header image: Out of this world. NASA
Header image: *Psyche Delia*/Flickr, CC BY-NC
Header image: Nematodes play an important role in all biological systems. Shutterstock
Clive Phillips, The University of Queensland and Matti Wilks, The University of Queensland
Rupesh Paudyal, University of Leeds
Morgan Saletta, University of Melbourne and Kevin Orrman-Rossiter, University of Melbourne
Header image: <a href=«https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/space-junk-orbiting-around-earth-conceptual-233084350?src=» http:>Johan Swanepoel/Shutterstock
Adrienne Macartney, University of Glasgow