Apparently the closest we can get to the red desolate environment of Mars here in the US is in Hawaii. More specifically, the northern flank of the Mauna Loa volcano on the Big Island.
On Sunday, six scientists emerged from a 1,200-square-foot dome located on the Mars-like sands of the volcano after a yearlong experiment simulating an expedition to Mars.
The project, called HI-SEAS (for Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) is a NASA-funded research project in partnership with the University of Hawaii that tests what it would be like for people to live on Mars. It looks specifically at measures of team cohesion and performance to see how a group of strangers cope living with one another for an entire year – very much like a real mission to the Red Planet.
The crew was forced to live exactly as they would on Mars, meaning: only receiving water every two and four months, only leaving the “habitat” in a space suit, and 20-minute delays for sending and receiving e-mails to the outside world (though they did have wifi).
In a press release, the HI-SEAS project described the habitat: “[It’s] an open concept design that includes common areas such as kitchen, dining, bathroom with shower, lab, exercise, and work spaces. A second floor loft spans an area of 424 square feet and includes six separate bedrooms and a half bath. In addition, a 160 square foot workshop converted from a 20 foot long steel shipping container is attached to the habitat.”
When asked about living in such close quarters, the crew mentioned that emergencies were opportunities to downplay smaller problems and work together.
At one point, for instance, the system for treating water broke and needed to be fixed. “Obviously, we need water, so we all needed to work on that as a group,” Christiane Heinicke, a German physicist and participant, told NPR. “If you had some arguments within the group… it really helps to have an emergency to work on together, because everyone has new motivation.”
And while at most the crew was only 20 miles from civilization, the simulation of life on Mars felt very real, as evidenced in the crew members’ blogs. In one post, Sheyna Gifford, the mission doctor, wrote about having vivid dreams of home – ironic, of course, because the crew hadn’t left Earth:
“For a few months after the mission first began I would have sort of waking dreams – bright moments where, for an instant, I would be standing somewhere on Earth. New Orleans. Boston Harbor. A street corner in New York City where I used to buy falafel and watch people walk their dogs. The fleeting scene would be completely immersive: I would hear, see, smell, and feel the place I was standing, down to the warmth of the pita sandwich in my hand. Then, I would blink and it would be gone. I called them “Earthflashes”. They lasted for a few months before fading as mysteriously as they had started.”
According to NPR, hundreds from around the world apply each year to be considered for these HI-SEAS missions (most lasting between 4 and 8 months). And they are already recruiting for the 2017-2018 8-month long mission.
For those considering applying, it may be worth taking a word of advice. “Bring something to work on. Something meaningful to work on,” says Heinicke. “One of your biggest enemies is boredom. The other big enemies, of course, are the rest of the crew.”
LIVE on #Periscope: Mars simulation experiment crew press conference #hiseas https://t.co/qvFR5kCk2R
— University of Hawaii (@UHawaiiNews) August 28, 2016