You might not think four months in Hawaii could stand in for a trip to Mars, but those on the Hawaiian Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) mission would say otherwise.
Six researchers have been living under a solar-powered dome in an isolated region of Hawaii for four months. They have had no outside human contact. Their toilets are waterless. And they've been living on dehydrated astronaut food, all to simulate the conditions of a manned mission to the Red Planet.
"You don't really think about the tactical feedback you get from biting into crisp lettuce and a juicy hamburger, but that's the one thing that's lacking here," Chief Technologist Ross Lockwood said when explaining some of the challenges of the mission.
Not exactly the blissful Hawaiian vacation, this mission aims to simulate the isolation of life on Mars. The mission crew completes daily psychological tests to understand how people will behave, feel and react on long manned missions to Mars.
"I haven't seen a tree, smelled the rain, heard a bird, or felt wind on my skin in four months," said expedition leader Casey Stedman, an Air Force Reserve Officer. Anyone who ventures outside the dome is required to wear a mock spacesuit to simulate Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVAs)--in other words, roaming around on Mars.
The two-storey, 36-foot-wide dome is situated on the Hawaiian Mauna Loa volcano where the ground is dry and dusty and almost as pockmarked as the surface of Mars. The crew is not completely isolated as it does have communication with the outside world. But to simulate a mission to Mars, all communications are delayed by 20 minutes because radio waves from Earth to Mars take just as long.
The crewmembers conduct experiments to understand what needs to be done to make things run smoothly on a real Mars mission. Spaceflight research assistant Tiffany Swarmer works on improving spacesuit design for spacewalks. Lockwood tests 3D-printed tools and surgical devices. Stedman works as the geologist, studying the minerals in the environment and coming up with methods of analyzing their compositions. Space engineering Ph.D. candidate Lucie Poulet tests plant growth under varying wavelengths of light while NASA scientist Anne Caraccio measures and analyzes the crew's "waste profile", or trash accumulation. Ronald William, a neuropsychologist, documents how well the crewmembers adjust to life in the cozy, isolated dome, both psychologically and emotionally.
Despite some technical difficulties, life seems okay for the crewmembers. When they are not experimenting and documenting and recording, they're watching movies, exercising (they are required an hour minimum of physical exercise a day) and playing cards.
The crew "returns to Earth" on Friday, August 1st.
