The University of Hawaii’s sixth Mars mission simulation will begin today as another crew starts eight months of isolation inside a dome on Mauna Loa.
The NASA-funded Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS, tests human behavior and performance during long periods of isolation, similar to what astronauts might experience on a mission to the Red Planet. They are only allowed to venture outside with protective suits and all communications are placed on a 20-minute delay.
This year’s participants are: Sukjin Han, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin; Calum Hervieu, an astrophysicist from Scotland; Lisa Stojanovski, manager of the Australian Chapter of the Space Generation Advisory Council; and Michaela Musilova, an astrobiologist.
The studies will help determine individual and team requirements for long-duration space missions, UH says.