She’s only 30 years old, but Boulder explorer Ulyana N. Horodyskyj already earned a PhD in geological sciences, has tested spacesuits in a Falcon 20 “vomit comet” and was Maytagged in a human centrifuge at the National Aerospace Training and Research Center.
By the time you’re reading this she will have just wrapped up 30 days locked inside a three-story closed habitat on the grounds of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. She’s commander of a team of two men and two women studying the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body. There’s no Internet, no email—just one 30-minute call per week to family as the team tosses back vitamin D pills to counteract the lack of sunlight. They will be monitored daily by a dozen researchers (sort of a NASA version of Big Brother).
Horodyskyj is passionate about taking what she calls “citizen-scientists” on immersive international science expeditions to the Himalayan, South America and the Arctic. Early next year, her team will climb Argentina’s 22,841-foot Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside the Himalaya, to study how dark pollutants absorb more solar radiation, which in turn leads to increased snow melt.
“I’m trying to make science transparent to everyone,” she says, about her new company, ScienceintheWild.com. “We’ll study what’s happening now and what’s going to happen in the future in regards to climate change.”
“These are not tourist trips. There’s hard work to be done for researchers who will publish the work. It’s my passion to make science accessible, fun and interesting so people can sign on to join us.” After a month in isolation, she welcomes the company.
—Jeff Blumenfeld
