Human Adaptation on ‘White Mars’: A Narrative Review on the Biopsychosocial Effects of the Isolated, Confined, and Extreme Environment at Concordia Station, Antarctica

Sarah A. Gaier

doi:10.53941/wah.2025.100014

Abstract

This narrative review summarises the current published research from two decades of work at Concordia Station, Antarctica, one of earth’s most hostile environments. Its unique location and complete inaccessibility for nine months every year makes it an invaluable long-term analogue for space. Since 2005, the European Space Agency has implemented a biomedical research program to study human adaptation in such an extreme environment. The temperatures, altitude and polar light cycle subject Concordia’s inhabitants to chronic physiological and psychological stressors. Twenty years of research on ‘White Mars’ has informed our understanding of human adaptability and health risks of life in isolated, confined and extreme (ICE) environments like Concordia. Sleep health and human psychology have been the most studied biomedical fields at Concordia. The exposure to such an extreme environment entrains acute and possible long-term health issues affecting every body system that still need to be addressed. Furthermore, as a rapid increase in space travel and use of ICE environments is expected in the upcoming decades, this review highlights the importance of further research to develop robust countermeasures to the challenges faced at Concordia station for ensuring a successful mission in any ICE environment. In particular, more research is required on women’s health, especially considering recent findings on sex differences in adaptability to space and work in ICE environments.

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