This is Part 2 of an in-depth look into the NASA Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation study. In the first part, Tech Times talked with crew members using a unique voice app technology built specifically for the simulation by app maker Voxer. In this segment we delve deeper into what researchers are learning about what it may take to travel and live on Mars.
How would a crew of astronauts maintain sanity, and their very humanity, in the years it would take to travel to Mars, reside there for research work, and then travel back? That's just one of dozens of questions NASA hopes to answer as it conducts research on what may one day be mankind's ultimate space journey.
The eight-month NASA Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-Seas) study involves six crew members who began living in a simulated Mars habitat this past October. The research focus is on the social, interpersonal and cognitive factors that impact team performance during long-duration space travel.
The crew members are using a voice-messaging application to communicate with mission control, as well as family. The app was tweaked to take into account the 20-minute time lapse in sending and receiving communications from Mars.
Tech Times wanted to know how morale was holding up during the eight-month-long study, what the crew does on a day-to-day basis and about life in a solar-powered dome in Hawaii. In a series of 40-minute exchanges, Crew Commander Martha Lenio and crew member Zak Wilson provide insight on the simulated challenges of living on Mars.
