Have you got what it takes to go to the Moon?

“You have to be a pleasant person to work with, that’s number one,” Purvis says. “You have to deal with pressure, stress and uncertainty and still be able to perform in your job – you can train for every scenario but something’s going to happen that we can’t predict.”

What has also become apparent from decades of polar research is that while there is occasional excitement, boredom is a serious concern. “There’s not much stimulation here in terms of the environment, so it’s very monotonous,” says Purvis. “You don’t want to sit in your room in the dark and watch Netflix all of the time.” 

One of Purvis’s experiments was on mindfulness. Building on previous research, she would gather the crew together for activities that included yoga, Lego construction and painting.

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“We haven’t had all the results yet, but I felt it benefitted me, and the team actually looked forward to doing the activities and they brought them together,” Purvis says. “And that’s the kind of experiment that has a low payload, but a very high reward and I think they will definitely implement it into astronaut schedules in future.”