Malica Schmidt
Expeditions
Expeditions in Extreme Environments
Extreme environments refer to conditions that are beyond the human ecological niche. This includes isolated, confined, and extreme environments, such as underwater, in lava tubes, in microgravity, and at high altitude. These expeditions can be used as analogues to simulate various aspects of space exploration and the conditions for living and working in such settings. Read more about my expeditions and analogue missions below:
Aquarius Reef Base, Underwater
In 2023, we dove into Aquarius Reef Base, the only underwater research laboratory in the world, which is located 8 km off the coast in Key Largo, Florida, at a depth of 19 m below the surface. Aquarius is operated by Florida International University (FIU) and primarily used as a lab for ocean studies and marine operations.
The base also serves for isolation and confinement research, and as a testbed for space exploration in the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO), during which up to six divers remain in the lab for up to three weeks. Divers that remain underwater for extended periods are also referred to as saturation divers due to the high pressure environment, which saturates nitrogen into their bloodstream. This increases the risk of decompression sickness when coming back to the lower pressure environment on the surface. To mitigate this risk, saturation divers, also referred to as aquanauts, use decompression and prebreathing technique.
During the time at FIU, we were also certified by the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) as scientific divers. The course entailed, among others, first aid and emergency oxygen provider courses certified from Divers Alert Network (DAN), as well as underwater navigation and marine archaeology at the San Pedro Underwater Archaeological Preserve State Park. It also included fish identification around Aquarius and coral reef restoration activities at the Coral Restoration Foundation.
Figure 1: Aquarius Reef Base, the only underwater research laboratory in the world. It is located 8 km off the coast in Key Large, Florida, at a depth of 19 m below the surface, and is used for living and conducting experiments underwater.
CHILL-ICE II, Iceland
CHILL-ICE II was an analogue mission, organised by ICEE.Space in 2022. For this mission, I was selected as commander and scientist analogue astronaut by a highly qualified interview panel, including former NASA astronaut Gregory Chamitoff.
For six nights and seven days, my crew and I lived and worked inside the Surtshellir lava tube in Iceland. Lava tubes are natural tunnels formed by volcanic activity. Similar phenomena were discovered on the Moon and Mars with benefits of larger and wider tunnels due to the lower gravity, which could be used as a shield from ionising radiation, extreme temperatures, and micro-meteorites.
During the mission, we constructed a habitat and conducted 14 geological, technical, and medical experiments. These experiments were from seven international institutions, including Technical University Delft, Texas A&M University, and the International Space University, as well as Cadiz, Hawaii, Kwantlen Polytechnic, and Masaryk Universities. Articles about the mission can be found here. Additionally, we participated in an outreach activity with former NASA astronaut Gregory Chamitoff and 150 Texas A&M University students inside the lava tube. For more information on the outreach activity click below:
Additionally, we showcased part of the mission during an exhibition in Reykjavík University.
Figure 2: CHILL-ICE II analogue astronaut mission, organised by ICEE.Space. Leading a team of three analogue astronauts, we lived for seven days inside the Surtshellir lava tube in Iceland and conducted 14 experiments from seven international institutions.
1st UK Analogue Research Mission, Scotland
The 1st UK analogue research mission was organised in 2022 by Space Health Research and took place on Lunga, a remote and uninhabited Scottish island. It was the first time that we, a team of five analogue astronauts, explored the island, much like how future human spaceflight missions to the Moon and Mars would occur.
The aim of the mission was to determine how prolonged healthcare is delivered in these environments, using minimal resources and no access to healthcare services. We encountered three realistic medical scenarios over 36 hours, during which we needed to care for simulated patients for 8 hours each. Scenarios included, among others, fractured bones, requiring us to carry the injured individual in a stretcher over rugged terrain, as well as psychological scenarios and radiation hazards.
Figure 3: The 1st UK Analogue Research Mission. In a team of five analogue astronaut, we carried out three healthcare scenarios over 36 hours, during which we needed to care for simulated patients over a prolonged period.
35th DLR Parabolic Flight Campaign, Microgravity
The 35th Parabolic Flight Campaign was organised in 2020 by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and included eight teams that conducted their research during three flight days. Among them was my PhD experiment on Nature-Inspired, Multifunctional Surfaces (NIMFS), in collaboration with two departments from University College London (UCL), the DLR, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT).
Parabolic flights simulate microgravity by flying a series of 31 parabolas per day in the Airbus A310 Zero-G, owned by the French company Novespace. During these parabolas, the experiment and I experienced 1.8 g during pull up of the airplane’s nose to 50 degrees, 22 seconds of microgravity when the pilots pushed the nose down and throttled the engine back, and another 1.8 g phase, before it went back to steady flight.
In 93 parabolas, a total of 35 minutes of microgravity research was accumulated. This flight was used to bridge between the ground-based experiments of my PhD and the experiments on the International Space Station (ISS). More about this research can be read below:
Figure 4: The 35th DLR Parabolic Flight Campaign. During this campaign, I conducted research on the NIMFS in 93 parabolas, leading to experiments in more than 35 minutes of microgravity.
Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
For our expedition to Mt. Kilimanjaro, I trained with intermittent hypoxic exposure masks and altitude running to get accustomed to 9% oxygen intake. In 2019, we undertook the expedition and arrived in Moshi, Tanzania. Below is a summary of each of the expedition days:
Day 1
Machame Gate - Machame Camp at 2,835 m
We hiked through the rainforest to our first camp in good spirits.
Day 2
Machame Camp - Shira Cave Camp at 3,750 m
The vegetation changed to moorland and trees became less present, but our excitement level was great.
Day 3
Shira Cave Camp - Baranco Camp at 3,900
While the landscape changed to an alpine desert, this was physically a tough day, all about walking high and sleeping low. We had the first symptoms of altitude sickness during our lunch at Lava Tower Camp at 4,600 m of altitude, then descended to our camp and rested to acclimatise.
Day 4
Baranco Camp - Karanga Camp at 3,995 m
As one of my favourite days, we climbed the well-known Baranco wall and acclimatised further.
Day 5
Karanga Camp - Barafu Camp at 4,673 m
In preparation for the summit climb, we arrived at base camp and rested early.
Day 6
Barafu Camp - Summit at 5,895 m - Mweka Camp at 3,100 m
We got up just after midnight and targeted the summit push with a safe climb with a steady pace, while the landscape turned into an Arctic environment. Four from our group of six, including me, reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro and watched the magnificent sunrise together. At this moment, we were the highest individuals in Africa. Time seemed to pass quicker due to the lack of oxygen to the brain, so after a brief time at the summit, we descended back to Mweka Camp via Stella Point. The end of the day led us back into moorland.
Day 7
Mweka Camp - Mweka Gate at 1,653 m
From there, we arrived back in the rainforest and reached the end of our expedition, having traversed 49 km and over 10,000 m in altitude.
Figure 5: The Machame route of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. For seven days, we climbed the 5,895 m and experienced a magnificent sunrise at the summit together.
Way of St. James, Spain
The Way of St. James, also called the Camino de Santiago, is a great endeavour to test endurance. We hiked a total of more than 940 km by foot on multiple paths. We spent six weeks in 2008 hiking for 780 km along the Camino Francés, from the south of France in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to the west end of Spain in Santiago de Compostela and Finisterre, totalling elevation gains and losses of around 17,000 m.
The main goal was to carry on hiking daily for over 20 km, which was enlightened by sharing our stories and evenings with the other hikers along the way. Once reaching Santiago, we continued to Finisterre, which was once believed to be the end of the world, and enjoyed the sunset.
The Mosel-Camino on the other hand stretches from Koblenz to Trier in Germany, which we hiked for eight days in 2009 for over 160 km, totalling elevation gains and losses of around 4,300 m.