HI-SEAS begins longest U.S. space simulation

HI-SEAS crew in a suited excursion simulation, with Mauna Kea in the background. The crew members had to suit up to leave the habitat, a highly involved process that took hours to prepare. Image courtesy Tiffany Swarmer.

On 15 October 2014, six astronaut-like crew members of the third Hawai‘i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) mission began the longest space simulation on U.S. soil. Prior to entering their dome habitat, participants shopped for dental floss, an ukulele, and slippers, among other things. During the eight-month isolation, the goal is to examine how well a small group of people, isolated from civilization, can get along and work together. “Right now, the psychological risks are still not completely understood and not completely corrected for,” said Kim Binsted, associate professor at UH and the principal investigator for the project. “NASA is not going to go (to Mars) until we solve this.”

Read more about it in the New York Times, The Guardian, the Washington Post, and Sci-News.com; read more about it and watch the video at The Weather Channel. Image courtesy of T. Swarmer.