Living on the edge: How to prepare for it?

Introduction: Isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments such as found at Antarctic, Arctic, and other remote research stations are considered space-analogs to study the long duration isolation aspects of operational space mission conditions. Methods: We interviewed 24 sojourners that participated in different short/long duration missions in an Antarctic (Concordia, Halley VI, Rothera, Neumayer II) or non-Antarctic (e.g., MDRS, HI-SEAS) station or in polar treks, offering a unique insight based on first-hand information on the nature of demands by ICE-personnel at multiple levels of functioning. We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis to explore how sojourners were trained, prepared, how they experienced the ICE-impact in function of varieties in environment, provided trainings, station-culture, and type of mission. Results: The ICE-environment shapes the impact of organizational, interpersonal, and individual working- and living systems, thus influencing the ICE-sojourners' functioning. Moreover, more specific training for operating in these settings would be beneficial. The identified pillars such as sensory deprivation, sleep, fatigue, group dynamics, displacement of negative emotions, gender-issues along with coping strategies such as positivity, salutogenic effects, job dedication and collectivistic thinking confirm previous literature. However, in this work, we applied a systemic perspective, assembling the multiple levels of functioning in ICE-environments. Discussion: A systemic approach could serve as a guide to develop future preparatory ICE-training programs, including all the involved parties of the crew system (e.g., family, on-ground crew) with attention for the impact of organization- and station-related subcultures and the risk of unawareness about the impact of poor sleep, fatigue, and isolation on operational safety that may occur on location.

Machine learning for recognizing minerals from multispectral data.

Machine Learning (ML) has found several applications in spectroscopy, including recognizing minerals and estimating elemental composition. ML algorithms have been widely used on datasets from individual spectroscopy methods such as vibrational Raman scattering, reflective Visible-Near Infrared (VNIR), and Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). We firstly reviewed and tested several ML approaches to mineral classification from the existing literature, and identified a novel approach for using Deep Learning algorithms for mineral classification from Raman spectra, that outperform previous state-of-the-art methods. We then developed and evaluated a novel method for automatic mineral identification from combining measurements with two complementary spectroscopic methods using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) for Raman and VNIR, and cosine similarity for LIBS. Specifically, we evaluated fusing Raman + VNIR, Raman + LIBS or VNIR + LIBS spectra in order to classify minerals. ML methods applied to combined spectral methods presented here are shown to outperform the use of a single data source by a significant margin. Our approach was tested on both open access experimental Raman (RRUFF) and VNIR (USGS, RELAB, ECOSTRESS) libraries, as well as on synthetic LIBS (NIST) spectral libraries. Our cross-validation tests show that multi-method spectroscopy paired with ML paves the way towards rapid and accurate characterization of rocks and minerals. Future solutions combining Deep Learning Algorithms, together with data fusion from multi-method spectroscopy, could drastically increase the accuracy of automatic mineral recognition compared to existing approaches.

The PANGAEA mineralogical database.

Future human missions to the surface of the Moon and Mars will involve scientific exploration requiring new support tools to enable rapid and high quality science decision-making. Here, we describe the PANGAEA (Planetary ANalogue Geological and Astrobiological Exercise for Astronauts) Mineralogical Database developed by ESA (European Space Agency): a catalog of petrographic and spectroscopic information on all currently known minerals identified on the Moon, Mars, and associated with meteorites. The catalog also includes minerals found in the analog field sites used for ESA's geology and astrobiology training course PANGAEA, to broaden the database coverage. The Mineralogical Database is composed of the Summary Catalog of Planetary Analog Minerals and of the Spectral Archive and is freely available in the public repository of ESA PANGAEA. The Summary Catalog provides essential descriptive information for each mineral, including name (based on the International Mineralogical Association recommendation), chemical formula, mineral group, surface abundance on planetary bodies, geological significance in the context of planetary exploration, number of collected VNIR and Raman spectra, likelihood of detection using different spectral methods, and bibliographic references evidencing their detection in extraterrestrial or terrestrial analog environments. The Spectral Archive provides a standard library for planetary in-situ human and robotic exploration covering Visual-Near-Infrared reflective (VNIR) and Raman spectroscopy (Raman). To populate this library, we collected VNIR and Raman spectra for mineral entries in the Summary Catalog from open-access archives and analyzed them to select the ones with the best spectral features. We also supplemented this collection with our own bespoke measurements. Additionally, we compiled the chemical compositions for all the minerals based on their empirical formula, to allow identification using the measured abundances provided by LIBS and XRF analytical instruments. When integrated into an operational support system like ESA's Electronic Fieldbook (EFB) system, the Mineralogical Database can be used as a real-time and autonomous decision support tool for sampling operations on the Moon, Mars and during astronaut geological field training. It provides both robust spectral libraries to support mineral identification from instrument outputs, and relevant contextualized information on detected minerals.

Human Physiology During Exposure to the Cave Environment: A Systematic Review With Implications for Aerospace Medicine.

Background: Successful long-duration missions outside low-Earth orbit will depend on technical and physiological challenges under abnormal environmental conditions. Caves, characterized by absence of light, confinement, three-dimensional human movement and long-duration isolation, are identifiably one of the earliest examples of scientific enquiry into space analogs. However, little is known about the holistic human physiological response during cave exploration or prolonged habitation. Objectives: The aim of our review was to conduct a systematic bibliographic research review of the effects of short and prolonged exposure to a cave environment on human physiology, with a view to extend the results to implications for human planetary exploration missions. Methods: A systematic search was conducted following the structured PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines for electronic databases. Results: The search retrieved 1,519 studies. There were 50 articles selected for further consideration, of which 31 met our inclusion criteria. Short-term cave exposure studies have investigated visual dysfunction, cardiovascular, endocrine-metabolic, immunologic-hematological and muscular responses in humans. Augmentations of heart rate, muscular damage, initial anticipatory stress reaction and inflammatory responses were reported during caving activity. Prolonged exposure studies mainly investigated whether biological rhythms persist or desist in the absence of standard environmental conditions. Changes were evident in estimated vs. actual rest-activity cycle periods and external desynchronization, body temperature, performance reaction time and heart rate cycles. All studies have shown a marked methodological heterogeneity and lack reproduction under controlled conditions. Conclusions: This review facilitates a further comparison of the proposed physiological impact of a subterranean space analog environment, with existing knowledge in related disciplines pertaining to human operative preparation under challenging environmental conditions. This comprehensive overview should stimulate more reproducible research on this topic and offer the opportunity to advance study design and focus future human research in the cave environment on noteworthy, reproducible projects.

Expedition Cognition: A Review and Prospective of Subterranean Neuroscience With Spaceflight Applications.

Renewed interest in human space exploration has highlighted the gaps in knowledge needed for successful long-duration missions outside low-Earth orbit. Although the technical challenges of such missions are being systematically overcome, many of the unknowns in predicting mission success depend on human behavior and performance, knowledge of which must be either obtained through space research or extrapolated from human experience on Earth. Particularly in human neuroscience, laboratory-based research efforts are not closely connected to real environments such as human space exploration. As caves share several of the physical and psychological challenges of spaceflight, underground expeditions have recently been developed as a spaceflight analog for astronaut training purposes, suggesting that they might also be suitable for studying aspects of behavior and cognition that cannot be fully examined under laboratory conditions. Our objective is to foster a bi-directional exchange between cognitive neuroscientists and expedition experts by (1) describing the cave environment as a worthy space analog for human research, (2) reviewing work conducted on human neuroscience and cognition within caves, (3) exploring the range of topics for which the unique environment may prove valuable as well as obstacles and limitations, (4) outlining technologies and methods appropriate for cave use, and (5) suggesting how researchers might establish contact with potential expedition collaborators. We believe that cave expeditions, as well as other sorts of expeditions, offer unique possibilities for cognitive neuroscience that will complement laboratory work and help to improve human performance and safety in operational environments, both on Earth and in space.

EAC trains its first international astronaut class.

After several years of planning and preparation, ESA's ISS training programme has become operational. Between 26 August and 6 September, the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) near Cologne gave the first ESA advanced training course for an international ISS astronaut class. The ten astronauts who took part--two from NASA, four from Japan and four from ESA--had begun their advanced training programme back in 2001 with sessions at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston and at the Japanese Training Centre in Tsukuba. During their stay in Cologne, the ten astronauts participated in a total of 33 classroom lessons and hands-on training sessions, which gave them a detailed overview of the systems and subsystems of the Columbus module, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), and the related crew operations tasks. They were also introduced to the four ESA experiment facilities to be operated inside the Columbus module. After their first week of training at EAC, the astronauts were given the opportunity to see the flight model of the Columbus module being integrated at the site of ESA's ISS prime contractor, Astrium in Bremen. The second week of training at EAC included hands-on instruction on the Columbus Data Management System (DMS) using the recently installed Columbus Crew Training Facility. In preparation for the first advanced crew training session at EAC, two Training Readiness Reviews (TRR) were conducted there in June and August. These reviews were supported by training experts and astronauts from NASA, NASDA and CSA (Canada), who were introduced to ESA's advanced training concept and the development process, and then analysed and evaluated the training flow, content and instructional soundness of lessons and courses, as well as the fidelity of the training facilities and the skills of the ESA training instructors. The International Training Control Board (ITCB), made up of representatives from all of the ISS International Partners and mandated to control and coordinate all multilateral training for ISS crew and ground-support personnel, testified to ESA's readiness to provide Advanced Training by declaring the EAC TRR successful. The completion of this first training course was therefore a good opportunity for the Astronaut Training Division to assess the status of its training programme. The comments and recommendations of the training experts and the astronauts who took part have been carefully evaluated and the results are being fed back into the ongoing training development process.