Antartica & Space Medicine

[Music plays and the Earth can be seen spinning in space, and inset images appear of a female operating a computer, a satellite dish, and a female smiling at the camera, and then text appears: Space Careers Wayfinder]

[Image changes to show a view of the Casey Station, and text appears: Casey Station, Antarctica]

[Image changes to show John Cherry talking to the camera, and text appears: Dr John Cherry, Medical Doctor, Australian Antarctic Division]

Dr John Cherry: My name is John Cherry and I am an Antarctic Medical practitioner with the Australian Antarctic Division, which means that I am a doctor here at Casey Station in Antarctica.

[Image changes to show the world globe with Antarctica facing and the Antarctic stations are pinpointed on the globe, and text appears: Casey, Davis, Hamilton, Mawson, Macquarie Island]

The Australian Antarctic Programme operates three Antarctic stations and one sub-Antarctic station which is at Macquarie Island.

[Image changes to show the Casey station in Antarctica]

Those stations are isolated for nine months over winter which means there’s no ability to get in or out.

[Image changes to show a satellite orbiting the Earth]

That means in many ways it’s really similar to spaceflight.

[Images move through of astronauts moving around in a space shuttle, and then a person walking across the snowy landscape in Antarctica]

So, we know that if there’s an emergency in space there’s a delay for getting astronauts back to Earth. Antarctica as a continent is huge.

[Image changes to show an undulating snowy landscape]

The scale between stations is enormous and the scale across the continent is massive.

[Image changes to show John talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show the snowy Antarctic landscape and the camera pans over the landscape]

That actually corresponds really nicely to spaceflight as well because it means that although there are other stations here in Antarctica often it’s very difficult for them to interact.

[Image continues to pan over the snowy landscape and snow vehicles can be seen moving along, and then the image changes to show a group of people trudging towards the camera through the snow]

Antarctica is the highest, driest, coldest and windiest continent in the world.

[Image changes to show a close view of people trudging through the snow towards the camera]

That means that we’re exposed to extreme conditions throughout the entirety of our stay here in Antarctica.

[Image changes to show John talking to the camera and the Casey station can be seen in the background]

That means that we’re operating in really harsh environments and we’re reliant on each other for support.

[Image changes to show a satellite moving over the surface of the Earth]

We’re reliant on technology and shelter, much in a similar way or the same way as astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

[Images move through to show a worker on the International Space Station having a haircut, and then the image changes to show John talking to the camera]

Having spoken and worked with a number of astronauts in a number of international space agencies, all of them say the same thing about working aboard the International Space Station.

[Image changes to show a female having her hair cut at the Antarctic station while other workers do laundry]

They say one of the greatest joys is not only looking down at the Earth below them but also working with a team of such dedicated, inspirational people and building friendships with those people that last a lifetime.

[Image changes to show John talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show the Australian Antarctic Division headquarters in Tasmania]

As expeditioners here in Antarctica we are supported by a brilliant team back in Kingston, at the Australian Antarctic Division in Tasmania. And they do a lot of planning to make sure that we can have a successful season down here on the ice.

[Images move through to show John talking to the camera, the landscape around the International Space Station, and then two astronauts moving around]

Much in the same way as for a long duration mission to Mars, or a mission to the Moon, there’s a reliance on the team that’s here to deal with incidents that occur.

[Image changes to show a group of workers carrying a person on a stretcher in Antarctica]

So, if something were to happen medically, although we have that support we also have to be capable of handling and treating that patient ourselves.

[Images move through to show John talking to the camera, a group of workers lifting the injured person onto a bed, and a helicopter taking off from the snowy landscape]

From my point of view there are lots of parallels between spaceflight and what we do down here and the medical side is just one of those parallels.

[Image changes to show a ship cutting it’s way through the icy water, and then the image changes to show John talking to the camera]

So, Antarctica is a well established space avenue.

[Image changes to show a close view of the International Space Station]

What that means is it’s an environment on Earth that shares many similarities with spaceflight.

[Image changes to show a group of workers walking towards the camera across the snowy landscape]

So we work here in small teams, in an isolated, confined and extreme environment.

[Image changes to show a view looking down on the Casey station in Antarctica, and then the image changes to show John talking to the camera]

We’re reliant on each other to solve problems in that environment but we also have no ability for medical evacuation for long periods of time over the Antarctic winter.

[Image changes to show a greenhouse at the station with growing vegetables]

We’re completely reliant on technology for food, for shelter, for warmth.

[Image changes to show a worker moving between buildings in Antarctica and holding on to a rope all the way]

So, there are many, many parallels between life here and life on the International Space Station.

[Image changes to show John Cherry talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show a close view of a satellite moving over Earth’s surface]

Obviously here we’re not floating through the air in a microgravity environment as they are in space, and we don’t experience the same levels of high radiation exposure that astronauts will experience because we have the protection of the atmosphere above us.

[Image changes to show the Casey station lit up at night and the aurora australis can be seen in the sky]

But in most other ways, life here in Antarctica is actually very similar to spaceflight.

[Image changes to show John Cherry talking to the camera, and then images move through of various views of a rocket on a launching pad]

That’s why the Australian Antarctic Programme has been working with space agencies like NASA for several decades to investigate what we can do to support astronauts as they venture to the International Space Station but also further into Deep Space to return to the Moon or go onwards to Mars.

[Image changes to show a view looking down on the rocket as it launches and then moves through the air]

International space agencies like NASA have long accepted the usefulness of Antarctica in training their crew.

[Image changes to show John Cherry talking to the camera]

So, if we look back to the Apollo era, they placed their astronauts in environments in the desert, and they placed their astronauts in high altitude environments to stress them, to test them, to test their equipment, and also bring them together as a team.

[Images move through to show astronauts completing underwater training]

Current astronaut teams from both NASA and the European Space Agency undergo underwater training in a special habitat of the Florida coast.

[Images move through to show two people walking through a cave lit with headlamps, astronauts doing underwater training, and people walking through blizzard conditions in Antarctica]

They do cave training in Europe and some astronauts have come to Antarctica to experience that isolation and confinement and the pressures that we experience so that they’re better able to handle those pressures when they reach spaceflight.

[Image changes to show John Cherry talking to the camera]

For me it’s a privilege to stand here and have the opportunity to talk to you today and I’m really grateful for the training opportunities that have led to me being here. But I’m also aware that anyone who is watching this can follow my path. I haven’t done anything particularly special. I’m not particularly special myself. And I can guarantee you that you can be standing here if you work hard and you chase your dreams.

[Music plays and the image changes to show Emperor penguins in Antarctica, and then the image changes to show icebergs off the coast of Antarctica]

[Image changes to show the CSIRO logo and text appears: CSIRO, Australia’s National Science Agency, Space Careers Wayfinder 2022 except where otherwise indicated, The Space Careers Wayfinder materials may be used, reproduced, communicated and adapted free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided by all acknowledgements associated with the material are retained, Space Careers Wayfinder is a collaboration between the CSIRO and ANU]

[Image changes to show the ANU logo on a white screen]