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Russia to test medical technologies for lunar expeditions in Antarctic

The scientists in the Antarctic are planning to test the technologies of medical provision for humans that will be used in lunar missions

MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. Medical technologies for future lunar expeditions will be tested at the Russian Vostok station in the Antarctic, Chief Researcher of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems, Doctor of Medical Sciences Yevgeny Ilyin told TASS on Friday.

"We have developed a concept of using the Russian Antarctic station Vostok as an analogue of the future long-term habitable base on the Moon," he said.

On November 1 this year, junior researcher of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems Nikolai Osetsky set off for the 64th Antarctic expedition to carry out a whole series of studies, Ilyin said.

In particular, the scientists in the Antarctic are planning to test the technologies of medical provision for humans that will be used in lunar missions.

"Applied research will be conducted to deal with the practical issues of medical provision for the stay in the lunar base, render medical assistance and carry out diagnostics. There are plans to test the system of tele-medical control of the human’s health condition during the work outside the lunar base," the researcher said.

A whole group of factors influencing Polar researchers at the Vostok station are similar to the factors that have their effect on humans in a space flight, for example, isolation, the autonomous mode, physical inactivity and frequent magnetic fluctuations, he noted.

The Russian Antarctic station Vostok is located at a distance of 1,230 km from the Earth’s South Pole at an altitude of 3,500 meters above the sea level. The average annual temperature there equals minus 55 degrees Celsius.