Tucked away on the northern flank of Mauna Loa overlooking Maunakea is a white domed structure where NASA is studying what it takes to live on Mars.
The facility is part of the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS, program which is aimed at researching issues related to how crews will function on long-duration missions to Mars.
HI-SEAS creates missions and recruits crew members who live in the Mars-like habitat for periods ranging from four to 12 months in order to better understand the planet’s living conditions.
Learn more about this quest to make human life possible on the Red Planet at 7 p.m. May 4 during ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center’s next Maunakea Skies talk with Brian Shiro, geology lead at HI-SEAS.
During HI-SEAS missions, some of the crew’s activities require them to leave the habitat and conduct extra-vehicular activities while wearing simulated space suits to approximate the encumbrances astronauts would face while exploring the surface of Mars. This helps to identify and test best practices for future field explorations on the surface of Mars.
Funded by NASA, these missions also include supervision by a remote support team via an imposed 40-minute round-trip communications delay, replicating real Mars-like communication conditions. Shiro will take the audience through the day-to-day life of a HI-SEAS mission and what it’s like learning to live on Mars.
As a collaborator on the project since 2012, Shiro leads the development, assignment and evaluation of geological field tasks given to the HI-SEAS crews to gauge their team performance under realistic mission constraints. He has experience in more than a dozen field expeditions from the Arctic to the Antarctic and many tropical destinations in-between.
Shiro currently is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he applies geophysical exploration techniques to study lava tubes, seamounts and subsurface resources that could support life on other planets.
Hosted by planetarium technician Emily Peavy, ‘Imiloa’s monthly Maunakea Skies program includes observational highlights of the current night sky over Hawaii, with the audience able to view prominent constellations and stars visible during this time of year.
An additional Maunakea Skies planetarium presentation is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 18. General admission tickets are $10, $8 for members (member-level discounts apply). Pre-purchase tickets at ‘Imiloa’s front desk or by phone at 932-8901.
For more information, visit ImiloaHawaii.org.