Corona Daily 182: Astronauts on Valentine’s Day

Jancee Dunn, the author of “How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids” offers an interesting perspective on this very different Valentine’s day. Many people are imprisoned in their houses, working remotely or perhaps jobless. In an NYT article this week, she seeks advice from astronauts and submarine commanders. After all, their professions require them to remain in prolonged isolation with a few others under extreme conditions.

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Jane Poynter was one of the eight crew members, part of the mission Biosphere-2 (1991-1993). The experiment was to check the viability of ecological systems to support human life in outer space. She said the first couple of months were fine. Beyond four months, it became a “long duration isolation” and people started freaking out.   

Establishing regular routines was important to feel normal. But occasionally they needed to create some sort of a positive event, some celebration. Jane Poynter spent two years away from normal life in the early 1990s. Even managing a phone call with someone was a big event then.

She also found that creating different environments within Biosphere-2’s living space was helpful. She suggests making similar compartments during the pandemic. For example, making work calls on zoom at the desk, exercising on a yoga mat in another space, reading books in another corner of the living room.

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Chris Hadfield, a retired Canadian astronaut lived in space for six months. To cope, he suggests accepting the full reality of the situation. This isn’t a timeout, an interruption or an imposition on your life, he says. This is your life.

With life so radically altered, pre-pandemic rituals are important, says David Marquet, a retired submarine commander. He once spent 87 days underwater, isolated, closeted with a few colleagues and never able to see the sun. He said festivals like Valentine’s day were crucial for raising their depressed spirits. On the submarine they tried to maintain a calendar and replicate holidays. They put the necessary decorations on each holiday. That allowed them to maintain the rhythm of the year and rhythm of their life. Without such underwater celebrations, they would have been completely cut from life on land.

When the submarine crew went out from January to June, families prepared Valentine’s day cards in December. They were kept in a sealed box and opened only on 14 February. David Marquet feels this sense of ritual is important for human beings, and what is true for astronauts and submarine crew is true for people locked down during the pandemic.

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Mike Massimino, a former NASA astronaut confirms setting routines on space shuttle missions was vital to boost spirits. Having a set schedule, he says, is very important in space. If there is nothing on the schedule, the mind starts wandering.

Jeffrey Donenfeld worked as a cook in Antarctica for three months. What got the group through was their sense of mission. They were all together in it, they kept on repeating. Now in the pandemic, he says the same to his wife and family. “We’re having tough times, let’s just stick together and stay safe and we’ll get through this.”

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Astronaut Chris Hadfield made it a point to send flowers to his wife, Helene, on Valentine’s day. Jancee Dunn asked him whether he had arranged for the delivery before he left for the Space Station mission.

No, said Astronaut Hadfield. He simply called the flower shop from space.

Ravi