NASA isn't due to put a man in Mars until 2030 but preparations are well underway for the endeavor.
The HI-SEAS 2 (second Hawaii Space Exploration Analog & Simulation mission) crew emerged for the first time Friday after four months of living in a mock habitat made to mimic Mars. To mark the six-man crew's "return to Earth," the group hosted a live webcast of the event on Google Hangouts.
Located on top of a volcano in Hawaii, the mock base was created to simulate living and working conditions in Mars. The crew, made up of volunteers, were required to spend four months in the mock habitat to help NASA further understand conditions on the Red Planet, allowing the agency to better equip future astronauts with what will be needed for survival when actual exploration starts.
Since March, the HI-SEAS 2 crew had been living in a two-storey dome powered by solar technology measuring 36-feet wide sitting along Mauna Loa's slopes, allowed only to leave the base on simulated "Marswalks" wearing mock spacesuits. The Marswalks let the crew explore the Mars-like environment of the volcano at around 8,000 feet above sea level.
Funded by NASA and carried out by the University of Hawaii, the mission allowed crew members to run personal projects for the duration of their stay. The mock base has a full kitchen stocked with freeze-dried, dehydrated and non-perishable food so the crew was able to cook healthily despite being in seclusion. Aside from eating right, the crew also made the effort to exercise every day, logging in at least 60 minutes of physical activity and setting aside time for leisure activities like reading and interacting with others on social media. If it wasn't for the fact that the crew was living on a volcano, the mission looked like any other day.
Until problems crept up.
"In the last 60 days, the crew and I have faced power system failures, water shortages, illness, fatigue, electrical fluctuations, spacesuit leaks, medical emergencies, network dropouts, storms, habitat leaks, and numerous equipment failures," wrote U.S. Air Force Reserve officer Casey Stedman in a blog post.
How the crew dealt with these problems, including a four-day communication blackout, will definitely help NASA in understanding what astronauts would need for a trip to Mars.
Aside from Stedman, Physics Ph.D. student Ross Lockwood, Space Engineering Ph.D. candidate Lucie Poulet, spaceflight research assistant Tiffany Swarmer, neuropsychologist Ronald William and NASA scientist Anne Caraccio make up the HI-SEAS 2 crew. Stedman was mission commander.
