Six scientists have emerged from their dome on the barren plain of Manua Loa, Hawaii after a year in isolation as part of an experiment to see how humans would cope in a similar situation on Mars. The group of scientists were placed to live and work closely together in a dome, without any fresh air, fresh food or privacy.
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Based on this experiment, the crew is optimistic about travel to Mars.
“I can give you my personal impression which is that a mission to Mars in the close future is realistic”, said Cyprien Verseux, one of the group.
The study is the second-longest of its kind, after a Russian mission which lasted for 520 days.
Emerging from the dome, the crew members said their experience showed that a mission to Mars could succeed.
A group of scientists have returned to the outside world after they spent the past year living on “Mars” – without leaving Earth.
Fellow crew member Christiane Heinicke added she was amazed she could draw water from the “little greenhouse construct” in their simulated environment.
NASA is studying how these long-term isolation scenarios play out on Earth – in a program called Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) – before pressing on toward Mars, which the U.S. space agency hopes to reach sometime in the 2030s. Members of the crew also planned to eat a lot of food not available during the simulation and to swim in the ocean.
Much of the media interest was generated by the foreign HI-SEAS crew members.
This is the fourth and longest HI-SEAS mission to date.
The team who have lived in the dome all these months include a French astrobiologist, German physicist, and four Americans.
The crew can’t go outside, except during science excusions, when they have to wear space suits.
The study is funded by NASA and run through the University of Hawaii.
This is the third such mission to investigate the feasibility of a manned mission to Mars.
Nasa is aiming to send a crew to Mars sometime in the 2030s, but a one-way trip will take about seven months. As the crew emerged into the overcast morning, Verseux joked: “We were hoping for some sun”.
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The HI-SEAS’ fifth and sixth missions are set to happen for eight months in 2017 and 2018 and interested volunteers are invited to apply for the same.
