Travel to Mendoza - Foothills of the Andes



After weather delays we all reunited in Santiago!  Then it was time to pack up and catch a bus to Mendoza, Argentina - the foothills of the Andes.





On arrival to Mendoza. it was all about preparation and a little rest. We needed to get dollars exchanged to pesos, scope out the permit office, and eat a huge steak.  Began to hydrate as much as possible to prepare for the strenuous climb. We also did our ‘gear check’ for the mountain.

It's happening!  We have our permits.

 On top of our gear to climb to 23K feet, we are also bringing some blood oxygen monitors and cognitive assessment tablets for a pilot study on acclimatization procedures and cognition in low-oxygen environments.




One of the piece of tech we are using for this study is the Battlefield Airmen Trauma Distributed Observation Kit (BATDOK) developed by the Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided Knowledge Team (BATMAN) at AFRL. This app provided the team with the capability to continuously track oxygen saturation during the experimental acclimatization procedure leading up to the climb.


During the climb itself we will be tracking a number of physiological metrics using wearable technology from the Signature Track for Optimized Nutrition and Training (STRONG) Lab at the Air Force Research Laboratory.  This automatic monitoring tech allows researchers to seamlessly integrate physiology, psychology, performance, and technology together.


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