On the furrowed northern slopes of Hawaii ’s Mauna Loa volcano , six scientists have locked themselves inside a dome as part of a yr - farsighted research bailiwick . They will spend the next 365 days cut off from the rest of Earth as if they were on a commission to Mars .
The bleak lava fields of Manua Loa are visually similar to the Martian landscape . “ see out the single porthole window , all you may see are lava fields and Maunakea in the aloofness . Once the door is close , and the faux airlock sealed , the silence and physical separation bring to the ‘ long mode from home base ’ experience of our gang member , " said main researcher Kim Binstead in astatementabout a previous mission .
The recent , the quaternary Hawaii Space Exploration and Analogue Simulation ( HI - SEAS ) , began on August 28 and will see a bunch of three manpower and three adult female last together in an11 meter(36 understructure ) wide , 6 cadence ( 20 foot ) tall solar - powered dome . The idea is to try out the psychological effects that company the carry menstruum of closing off cosmonaut would encounter during a Mars missionary post .
Binstead excuse the behavioral vista of the mission in astatement : " The longer each mission becomes , the better we can understand the risks of blank travel . We hope that this coming missionary station will build on our current understanding of the societal and psychological factors involved in longduration space geographic expedition . "
Four Americans – a pilot , an architect , a journalist , and a filth scientist – a German physicist , and a French astrobiologist make up the crew . They will each have their own research – both inside and outside the dome – to conduct over the course of instruction of the mission , and will participate in scheduled simulated spacewalks . survive in cramped quarters with little secrecy , as well as no fresh line , communicating delays , and a requirement to don spacesuits when leaving the hab means the gang will experience conditions similar to those on a Mars military mission
Back in the mission financial support center , researchers will always monitor the crew throughout the mission via a combining of camera in the hab , and body - movement trackers to study cognitive , social , and emotional reaction of the crew to well read how closing off affects the gang ’s power to work together . The purpose of the mission is to screen both individual response as well as how those reactions affect the team as a whole . Lack of privacy , food for thought choices , and fourth dimension forth from family and friends can all take a toll . Even with the very best gang , conflicts are spring to drink down up over the course of a recollective - continuance missionary work .
The dual - level hab features a coarse area , kitchen – fully stock up with a twelvemonth ’s supply of food and urine – a lab for carrying out enquiry projects , an exercise elbow room , a dining room , and one bathroom downstairs , with the crew quarters and a second bathroom up the stairs . The gang will have to baffle food expenditure , water custom , and wasteland production .
Throughout the mission , the crew will have access to the internet . However , that access will number with a 20 - minute time lag , just as astronauts on Mars would get . A few of the crew members will be blogging about their experience . you may come after along withSheyna Gifford , Andrzej Stewart , andCyprien Verseux .
NASA has spent$1.6 million(£1 million ) on the first four HI - sea experiments and the project was recently awarded an extra $ 1.4 million ( £ 900,000 ) for three next missions .
