PNAS study finds Concordia crew proximity tied to conflict, mistrust and lower performance
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A 10-month study of 12 winter-over crew members at Concordia Station in Antarctica found that greater physical proximity was associated with more conflict, suspiciousness and lower self-rated performance. Published in PNAS on 26 May 2026, the study tracked questionnaire and wearable-sensor data at months one, three, six and nine.
The Antarctic Winter Study
Researchers Andrea Cantisani, Jan Schmutz and colleagues followed one 12-person winter-over crew at Concordia Station, an Antarctic interior site above 3,000 metres that is inaccessible for about nine months. The European Space Agency uses Concordia as a spaceflight analogue because crews face danger, confinement, disrupted light and prolonged separation. The 10-month study published in PNAS on 26 May 2026 collected questionnaires at months one, three, six and nine. Complete-case analyses involved nine or ten participants depending on the outcome, with growth models incorporating available observations.
Sensor Proximity Data
Chest-worn devices recorded face-to-face encounters within roughly one to one and a half metres, resolving contact in ten-second intervals. Stationary sensors helped identify where interactions occurred, producing a map of who spent time near whom. The sensors measured spatial co-presence rather than the quality or content of exchanges. The University of Bern notes this distinction means a warm conversation, a tense disagreement and shared workbench time are counted in the same basic way.
Conflict and Performance Trends
Loneliness increased across the mission, while team cohesion declined, conflict intensified and participants rated their individual performance lower. The proximity maps showed crew members who spent more time near others also tended to report more conflict, suspiciousness and lower perceived performance. Authors caution that twelve participants cannot represent every Antarctic station, submarine or Mars crew. The finding suggests forced co-presence in a closed habitat is not the same as chosen, supportive connection.
What's Next
Future Antarctic and space-analogue mission data may provide the comparison needed to test whether the Concordia pattern holds across multiple crews. It remains unclear whether physical co-presence itself contributes to conflict or merely reflects pre-existing social tension.
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PNAS study finds Concordia crew proximity tied to conflict, mistrust and lower performance
