Modern adventurer

All hands on deck

Much of what she learned at ETH continues to be useful today. As part of her job with the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), which collects and analyses core samples from the ocean floor, she spends up to six months a year on the high seas with a diverse group of scientists. “The capacity to keep an open mind and be respectful of each other is essential on these missions; it’s the only way to get things done as a team,” says Herrmann. She is in charge of running one of the labs on the vessel and familiarising researchers with the instruments on board. Having the chance to work with the sediment samples is something that never ceases to amaze her. “These cores contain visible evidence of when the dinosaurs became extinct. Holding something like that in your hands is just incredible,” she says.

Expeditions normally last 60 days, plus several days of preparation and follow-up in port. Once the research trip gets underway, the crew of some 120 people rarely sees land and is engrossed in the 24-hour-a-day schedule that operates on board. “Initially, the new group of scientists are pretty confused and nobody really knows what they’re supposed to be doing. But by the start of the second week, everyone’s got their bearings. It all starts running like clockwork, and two months in, we’re like one big family,” says Herrmann. Even so, the cramped quarters and strict routines can sometimes be difficult to cope with. “Week six is often particularly tough. The excitement has faded, and people are tired and starting to get homesick,” she says. That’s when the family bonds forged by the team really kick in, with people grabbing a coffee and chatting about their loved ones back home whenever there’s a pause in the drilling.

Life on the edge

Herrmann is particularly fascinated by these kinds of group processes and how they can be successfully navigated on a mission. Previous voyages have taught her to be sensitive to the changes in mood of those around her and to respond accordingly. “My experiences at sea also came in useful in the NASA capsule,” she says. “When the group started to get homesick, I delved into my bag of tricks and pulled out a dance party!”

The parallels to life on board a research vessel made it easy for Herrmann to deal with her first mission as an analog astronaut in the Hera capsule. But she was also quick to notice the differences – for example, in her surroundings. On the research vessel, Herrmann often spends quieter moments staring at the sky and enjoying the sweeping views to the horizon. In the cramped space capsule, monitors were used to simulate a view of outer space. “You can’t see trees, grass or water; there’s no birdsong, no sounds of anything around you, and none of the familiar smells of nature,” says Herrmann. “It really felt like I was in space.” It was these sensations that she found herself looking forward to most, once the 45-day mission was over. “All I wanted to do was lie in the grass, look at the sky and enjoy the fresh scent of the soil,” she says.

The next adventure beckons

It’s only when Herrmann returns from a voyage that she settles into some kind of routine: until September 2023, she was based at the IODP headquarters in College Station, Texas, as part of a team developing software for the scientific characterisation and evaluation of core samples. “It was like having a 9-to-5 job. I went for my run at noon, and after work I had a coffee with my husband before we wheeled the plane out of the hangar,” she says. She recently obtained her commercial pilot’s licence and is now working on adding the multi-engine rating to her certificate. But she’s still unsure if she would like to become an airline pilot or try out aerobatics. “It’s not like I plan these kinds of things. I’m simply open to trying new things, and I say yes to whatever fascinates and inspires me the most,” she says. The most important thing is that the projects she takes on are compatible with her family commitments to her American husband and her parents in Germany.

Herrmann’s latest adventure has taken her to San Diego. In October 2023, she took up her new post at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Once again, blue waters beckon, though this time on a mission to study seawater temperature, salinity and other oceanographic parameters.