An global group of scientists emerged on Sunday after a year of near isolation in a research station set up in Hawaii to simulate conditions 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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This was the fourth and longest simulation managed by HI-SEAS at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
These types of studies are essential for NASA to understand how teams of astronauts will perform on long-duration space exploration missions, such as those required for human travel to Mars. NASA-funded study was the longest of this type since Russia’s Mars-500 mission that ran for 520 days.
“You can actually get water from a ground that is seemingly dry”, she told the organizers in a video also on Periscope.
“The implication is that you could get water from Mars”. “I think the techonological and psychological obstacles can be overcome”, said Cyprien Verseux, a French HI-SEAS crewmember.
Kim Binsted, principal investigator for HI-SEAS, said the researchers were most looking forward to seeing the ocean and having fresh food after their year in isolation. Communications to and from the dome fell victim to a 20-minute delay to imitate the transmission time between deep space and Earth.
The six scientists also hoped to apply their simulated experience of living on Mars to their own areas of expertise.
Verseux had a suggestion for making future simulations, and missions to Mars, go more smoothly.
The dome of the crew members.
A team of six scientists have completed a simulation of a Mars mission after living in near isolation for a year.
These kinds of simulations provide insight into the hardships a crew traveling to Mars could have to endure. The mission participants stepped out of the habitat at almost 9 am on Sunday.
The dome the team used was erected 8,000 feet above sea level and was basically a small, two-story house.
The program is now seeking applications for the next two isolation missions, which will send teams back to mock Mars in 2017 and 2018 for eight months each.
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